#but the thing is like. when youre a teenager youre much more prone to si especially if youre the outcast sort

[dirt-grub]

oh god if you look at otgw the like objective way of the unknown being an in between of life and death that they experienced in the water that means wirt absolutely was just gonna give up but the thought of greg in his subconscious mind was what made him wake up and bring them both to safety

[ninjakasuga]

More Sonally Headcanons!!

Well, sort of. They’re headcanons related to Sonic and Sally, but this is actually more of an in depth introduction to my fankids J.C. and Kathleen. Along with an addendum to my last headcanon I flagged for @boundforfreedomsonsal. Turns out as I re-read it, I left out a part for Sonic’s headcanon. The stay at home dad part, I barely touched and that bugs me, so here’s that segment fleshed out and then some info on J.C. and Kathleen! Sonic the stay-at-home-dad: As mentioned prior, Sonic knows he’s not cut out for the majority of what being Prince-Regent entails. Showing up for parties, events and giving back to the people of Mobius, he can do that. Ruling stuff, that is absolutely Sally’s domain. Sure he can offer his viewpoints and all that, but the long-term, big-picture view thinking isn’t his style. That said he doesn’t wanna be a lay about, nor just jam off on adventures and leave Sally doing the hard stuff either. When the children are born, Sonic sees a way he can contribute more after Sally’s maternity leave period is officially over with. Not that Sally intends to stop being maternal, but at some point she is going to need to get back to the day-to-day logistics of running the Kingdom. Motherhood is wonderful and she isn’t going to neglect it; but she has her duties she must fulfill. To help with this; Sonic figures he can handle some ‘solo parent time’ while Sally does her part of the ol’ Kingdom running bit. To which his lovely wife is very grateful for, but also concerned. She recalls some of the trouble he had babysitting his little brother and sister; plus these two MIGHT have his speed. Sonic as usual, brushes off the concerns with the ol’ charm and a smile. Of course this bites him in the ass when the kids DO start to show they have his speed. Especially when said children are still being potty-trained and their diapers don’t stay on due to the velocity of said speed. (Not trying to be gross here, but it is a scenario the two will have to deal with, I pity the cleaners at the castle). While Sally feels that she’s putting a large heft of the parenting responsibilities on Sonic, he points out it’s the least he can do. He can’t do what she does, and while they are BOTH together on the parenting journey, he can handle the tykes for some hours while she’s doing the Queen-y stuff and once she’s done; it’s family time all together. “Sal there’s gonna be times when I gotta do stuff and you’ll have the kids by your lonesome. It’s just part of the gig, you ain’t abandoning the kids, that ain’t you. Go on, be the Queen. Your Prince, will keep our babes safe and adorble!” Now onto the kids themselves: This kind of goes over their base personalities as they develop in their preteen-to-teenage years. Kathleen: The daughter of the twins (whose name is a meta-homage to Kath Soucie), who as she grows up, gains a tomboy streak and is very much the apple of her Father’s eye. Feisty, sly, and prone to mischief (at least moreso than her brother who can be mischief-y himself). Out of the two, she’s the one truly in love with their inherited speed, and the freedom it offers. While she can be a bit blunt, and snarky, she has a keen mind, and education that she can use to scary effect, when she wants. She’s not above using her ‘cuteness’ to get what she wants, as long as she uses it sparing on her parents who are WISE to her antics. As her Aunt Bunnie puts it “She’s a lovable troublemaker with Sonic’s knack for trouble, and Sally’s brains to get out of said trouble.... most of th’ time.” She also has picked up some mechanical aptitude after hanging out often with her Great Uncle Chuck, Uncles Tails and Uncle Rotor. She loves repairing things and trying to build her own gadgets or vehicles. Well once she builds one that doesn’t fall apart from her overzealous designs getting the better of practical usage. In a tense situation where trouble brews, she’s the most likely to start throwing punches, and worry about ‘why’ the troublemakers started trouble after they’re tied up from their punch-naps. Of the royal duo she doesn’t exactly try to slack in any royal duties she has, but the idea of adventuring across the planet sounds more keen than sitting on a throne or doing paperwork, or both. Despite being closest with her Father she does love and respect her Mother; if anything she sees her as the ultimate badass Queen; but she also loves to push her buttons, a lot. Lastly unlike her brother who aspires to be a decent cook, he isn’t, and she is, and she does love to rub it in J.C.’s face she can pull of ‘Uncle Twan and Aunt Bunnie’s recipes’ with gusto. Jaleel-Craig (J.C. for short): The brother of the twins (with a double homage to Jaleel White and Roger-Craig Smith), J.C. is the more serious of the pair, but in a more laid back manner compared to his Mother. Of the two royal heirs, he’s the one who takes their responsibilities to the crown seriously. That said he’s not in any rush to be crowned King either, feeling he’s still lacking qualities or the ability to see things his sister does that he feels make her just as good a potential ruler as she feels he will be. Just getting her to understand that is a tall order. Not unlike his sister, while he loves both parents equally and shares many traits with both; while Kathleen is the apple of Sonic’s eye, J.C. is Sally’s pride. Sharing a love of lore, history, and learning in general. It isn’t uncommon to find the two engrossed in going over books and tomes of lost lore they’re trying to regain after so much was lost in the Robotnik/Eggman wars. While he and his sister both were taught hand-to-hand and various self defense moves by both their parents after their kidnapping at age six; J.C. found himself favoring the use of melee weapons in conjunction to the lessons from his parents and extra martial arts from Aunt Bunnie. To this end, his Uncle Twan’ was happy to show the young man the way of the blade to which J.C. has proven proficient and capable to his Uncle’s delight. Plus it gives Antoine playful ribbing ammo to use against his Father. J.C. is also a skillful diplomat-in-training having picked up some skills from his Mother and some of the best silver-tongues on the planet. As much as he is the studious son, he still shares a streak of mischief not unlike his sister; he’s just much better at being subtle and under-the-radar about it. Alas one skill he aspires to master but for the time being, fails at is cooking. If it’s anything but his Father and Great Uncles Chili-Dog recipes, he finds himself burning water not unlike his Mother. The fact his sister who usually prefers junk food, can make Uncle Twan’s Crepes’ or Aunt Bunnie’s Peach Cobbler from scratch vexes him. Much like his sister, he does revel in the speed inherited from their Father, but he views it as a ‘with great power, comes great responsibilities’ viewpoint as opposed to his sister ‘freedom above all’ mentality of the super-speed. That said, he’s not above using it to help her preform pranks from time to time. A last bit of side information. After the kidnapping, as an extra safety precaution, Sally asked Nicole to create some helper A.I.’s to work alongside the children. A notion Nicole found not just a good tactical idea, but also endearing as it would in her eyes, foster a continued foundation of friendship and family between her own growing ‘cyber family’ and Sally and Sonic’s own. With some ‘help’ from a certain former Metal Sonic-turned-good (*cough*Shard*cough*), Nicole created her own A.I. ‘children’ to be companions for the duo, housed in upgradable ‘watches’ that would house the A.I. when they were away from the nanite-network of New Mobotropolis. Kathleen gained ‘Berri’ Nicole and Shard’s ‘daughter’ who seems split between trying to ‘reign in’ some of Kathleen’s more spastic tendencies, and yet from time to time; loves to work alongside her in her crazy endeavors as Kathleen gets her to ‘lighten up’ some, as their friendship grows. Sometimes two crazy minds work well together. Kathleen equates Berri to having a portable, nanit-hack-capable sis-in-crime. J.C.’s A.I. companion Fragment or ‘Frag’ as they coined as a nickname is a bit of an oddity. His default persona is that of a semi-stiff minder, who encourages his more academic past-times, and furthering his education. Yet at times Frag shifts into a female persona who sometimes uses ‘Fraggie’ as a nickname. Fraggie is more laid back, trying to get the young Prince to mellow out when his more serious side becomes ‘a bit much’. She also seems to enjoy trying to play match maker between J.C. and his crushes. Okay I hope ya’all enjoyed these tidbits on my fankids. Next time we return to headcanons about their parents!

[funkymbtifiction]

Hello, Charity! I noticed that you've typed SGA characters, which is amazing (I love SGA), thank you so much 🤗 I was reading about Jennifer. She's ENFP 6w7 sp and this caught my interest:

"She’s frequently out of her depth in sensory situations – when she and Teyla are stranded on a planet overrun with criminals, Jennifer is terrified to cross a river on a thin rope ladder, utterly fails at defending herself physically, is intimidated to eat a dead, raw animal (even if Teyla says it’s fine), etc. She manages to do all those things, but her sensory-inhibitions make it scary and difficult for her (inferior Si)."

I was wondering if it's because this is what inferior Si should look like, or is it because of her Enneagram?

I am ENFP 9w1, 9-5-2 soc and I excel in the sensory situations Jennifer is out of her depth in. I'm calm in very difficult situations, am able to not panic (prone to overthinking but it's manageable) and just scan my surroundings for possible escape routes or things I can defend myself and others with. I'm good with rickety bridges and steep, slippery slopes and heights and danger, because I'm not afraid of it, there's genuinely not much that can scare me (my biggest fear is of being useless/trapped in a hopeless or bad situation). I always think "if you panic it's over, stay calm and get others to calm down/look out for them so they don't hurt themselves/I want to be the strong pillar of strength they can lean on". I wonder if it's because as I teenager I loved SGA so much and was rewatching it constantly, and Teyla was always my favourite, I've always looked up to her and wanted to be like her. I started to wear more practical clothes (cargo pants with many pockets, military-style boots, wife-beater and had my hair up in a ponytail so it won't snag and hinder me), started to be more mindful in stressful situations and trained myself to stay calm, etc. I've always loved to get physical and sensory with my environment (high rope courses, walking barefoot on grass or rocks, swimming and staying underwater as much as I could, folding advanced-level origami, patient with work that required gentle handling etc.). Nowadays I prefer comfortable and elegant clothes (that are still practical) but my mindset stays the same.

I'm definitely ENFP 9w1. In a difficult situation I would be, and had been, Teyla, not Jennifer (though I don't like to be put in charge of others, I just want to support the weaker or fearful people so other people who are in charge can have one less thing to worry about - to know that people will be looked after and taken care of - and focus and more pressing matters).

The thing is that I don't feel like I copied and used a trait that isn't mine, it feels like I got a push and developed a trait that WAS already mine. Is this developed Si? Or is it something else?

Gut types are connected to the world around them in a tangible way. Head types like Jennifer are analytical and detached from the world, seeing it through a barrier of self-doubt ( “I can’t do that”) and apprehension. So yeah, you being a 9 and her being a 6 make a difference. You being a 9 has developed your Si in terms of feeling connected (merging into) the environment. For me, being a 6 has made me highly aware of my environment in a watchful, self-protective way (I notice the smallest things all the time) but I still don’t feel “in” the world.

I like Teyla too, she’s everything I am not, but TBH, my favorite character is Rodney because I found his flip-flopping between arrogance and total panic and hypochondria totally hilarious.

Real-life inferior Si is struggling with details, finding rote memorization and a slow, steady process of learning to be difficult and/or boring, glossing over details in favor of hypotheticals and/or the belief that you “know” what is happening behind the scenes or what someone’s motivations are, being bogged down and bored with too much sameness or finding routine stifling, needing forward momentum not to feel trapped or like you are not making progress in your life, under-estimating the time required to follow through on many of your ideas (thus you leap on them and then abandon them) and having no attachment to sentiment on many things and a strong attachment to sentiment on a few things of particular interest to you. Those are a few ways inferior Si manifests.

[mbti-notes]

Do you have an opinion on the affects of social media on developing cognitive functions, specifically teenagers? I am asking with regard to navigating my son's adolescence. He is 16 and while the last few years have been more turbulent than previous years (with no doubt more to come) I think the road has been made substantially smoother as a direct result of me being able to access your blog, thank you. I don't feel inclined to limit his social media use, it's a part of life now, but it would be

[con’t: helpful to have some signs to look out for. I originally typed my son as Si dom with T preference and was trying to encourage his Te but now I’m thinking he’s more like INTP so I’ve changed my strategy to keep an open mind (and develop the patience of a saint LOL) and help him make the right decisions for himself. He has become more reckless and scattered lately with high value placed on acceptance from friends. Could this be Ne or does social media have a larger influence?]

I’m glad that you find the blog helpful and I admire your devotion to parenting. You raise a lot of interesting issues, though I may not be the best person to ask since I tend to have a negative opinion of social media. Parenting teenagers requires walking a very, very fine line between giving them enough guidance to avoid bad decision making vs giving them enough freedom to learn proper independence. It’s a very hard job. Sometimes, the only way to know that you’ve veered too far one way or the other is by making the mistake and then adjusting your approach - lots of trial and error. Every kid is an individual, so what works for one kid won’t necessarily work for another. Being able to adapt to their needs is the key point. It’s art more than science.

Everything has its positive and its negative side. Human beings tend to be short-sighted and easily rationalize bad decision making. When they really want to do something, they are much more likely to envision the benefits of doing it and this then blinds them to the costs. To be a good parent, I think it’s important to teach children how to recognize negative consequences and navigate them more intelligently (i.e. objective assessment of pros and cons that produces rational decision making). However, this is only possible if parents themselves are capable of it. You can’t expect kids to learn how to do something well without someone to teach them or model it for them. Unfortunately, I know plenty of adults of all ages who misuse social media just as badly as their kids. Kids learn predominantly through example, so you have to be the first one to follow the rules that you set. If you don’t follow any rules yourself, they won’t see the point in following any, either. For example, if all they see of you is your nose in your device, why would they put theirs down?

I don’t believe in banning kids from social media, but I do think it’s a good idea to be smart in limiting its usage. Social media shouldn’t be a substitute for real and meaningful human interaction, it shouldn’t take up so much time that important things get neglected, it shouldn’t interfere with maintaining good physical and mental health, and it shouldn’t be used as an escape. Teenagers become harder and harder to supervise as they get older because they increasingly have their own life going on. At a certain point, there’s no imposing rules on them because violating their autonomy only leads to rebellion.

A better strategy is to sit down with them to talk about the importance of using social media in HEALTHY ways, talk about why limits are necessary to avoid the negative/unhealthy aspects of it, and negotiate with them to come up with sensible limits that both of you can live with. If YOU also spend too much time on social media, then it’s even better to join them in adhering to those limits, to model the behavior that you expect from them and give them the feeling of being in it together. When you place limits on one aspect of life, it’s a good idea to expand yourself in other ways so as to minimize the feeling of “missing out”. For example, if you use social media for social connection, then compensate for limiting social media by making more effort to go out and join interesting social activities. Putting limits on fun means increasing boredom, so make sure that the boredom is addressed with a healthier option.

Social media is relatively new, so there isn’t a big enough body of research about its hidden effects or underlying costs. The few studies that have been done about social media mostly seem to suggest that misuse/overuse has very detrimental effects on psychological well-being. The spread of misinformation is a big problem (i.e. it makes people stupid). Cyber-bulling and violation of privacy are big problems. When you are so plugged in to other people’s lives, it’s hard not to engage in social comparison, and this often results in negative self-appraisals that diminish self-regard. This is particularly destructive for teenagers because they haven’t yet developed a very strong sense of self and are very likely to use other people’s judgment as a barometer of their own self-worth. Adolescence is usually the time that people start to grapple with level 2 ego development. It’s important for teenagers to learn how to socialize well and fit in with others, but it’s also important for them to learn the dangers of choosing the wrong socializing methods.

People at level 2 ego development are very prone to: experiencing shame/anxiety/depression via negative social comparisons, blindly following the ingroup (and rejecting the outgroup), and sacrificing self-care as they succumb to peer pressure. Helping them is not a matter of trying to stop them from doing these things, because you can’t, since doing these things is a natural part of that stage of development. What you can do is offer them guidance about self-care and help them think more critically about the best ways to handle peer pressure (i.e. give them options/strategies for working through real situations), in hopes that they’ll learn how to make better decisions. In the event that they make a bad decision, review the mistake with them. Reflect with them to figure out what went wrong and work with them to brainstorm ideas for how to avoid the same mistake in the future. Ask them what they could’ve done differently (this encourages N development). The PAIN of making mistakes is an efficient way to learn, which means that you shouldn’t be in there “helping” to the point that they don’t feel the pain of their mistakes.

Discipline is necessary for giving kids a sense of structure. To internalize a sense of structure is to possess a mental framework for making good decisions (usually requires developing the judging functions). At the very least, a child should have their parent’s way of critical thinking at hand whenever they aren’t able to solve a problem entirely on their own (i.e. “what would mom/dad advise me to do?”). Always be transparent, fair, and consistent in how you punish kids by explaining your decision, why it’s necessary, and what lesson it’s meant to teach them (e.g. self-care, intelligence, respect, patience, etc). This makes it more likely that they eventually internalize your moral lessons and learn to use them even when you’re not present. If you punish unfairly or disproportionately, if you’re a hypocrite, or if you’re inconsistent with punishments, you risk losing their respect, which, in their mind, means that they no longer have to listen to you.

Unfortunately, some kids don’t learn well the first time around and you have to discipline them to get the point across. You can develop a punishment scale that begins with a mild punishment for the first mistake and then increase the severity of the punishment for every instance of repeating the mistake. While I admire your patience, I’m sure you know that laissez faire parenting also has its problems. Overly permissive parents run the risk of losing their child’s respect because it’s easy to fall into the trap of devaluing your own needs whenever the child tests your rules and boundaries, and they will absolutely trample your boundaries if you give the impression of not having any. When you devalue your position of authority in the relationship, you encourage kids to do the same, and then you become a mere source of food or money and nothing else to them. This also enables them to be narcissistic in their approach to others.

I’m not sure how good you are at communicating, just in case it’s needed, I’ll continue on to say that I believe that one of the most important elements of parenting is establishing a strong sense of trust. If your kid trusts you, they’ll feel more confident about making independent decisions because they know that you’re there to help them should they need it, and sometimes it’s enough that you’re with them “spiritually” in their memory of lessons learned. The best way to build trust is to keep the lines of communications open. Good communication isn’t about trying to pry information or performing the role of judge jury and executioner. People, let alone teenagers, won’t want to communicate with you if they suspect that all you’re doing is judging them or just looking for an excuse to criticize them (and teens likely get enough of this from their peers).

Communication should come from the heart, use inquiry and sharing of feelings to show that you genuinely care about what’s going on with them. Good communication should work both ways: listen to each other carefully, be transparent about your motives, be honest about how you feel and what you need, negotiate compromises, and respect each other’s individual autonomy. You should model the kind of respect that you want them to give to you (I can’t count the number of times that I’ve seen parents trying to teach their kids to be more respectful… by shouting at them angrily). When they are out of line, remain calm, hear what they’re feeling (validation), then explain to them that you/people are more likely to take them seriously when they express their feelings maturely. Give them an example sentence of how to express feelings or requests respectfully.

Teenagers are emotional creatures, they live in the emotions of now and don’t respond well to appeals to the future. This can’t be helped because it’s part of adolescent brain development, so give them some leeway to get their feelings out, but use the chance to teach better communication methods. Sometimes it’s necessary to give them cooling off time before instigating a serious discussion. Recklessness is usually rooted in emotion. Some kids are reckless out of boredom, some out of anxiety, etc. Try to identify the underlying emotion that’s motivating the problem and then you’ll have a better chance of coming up with a good solution. For example, if boredom (or excess energy) is the motivation, then enroll them in productive activities to fill up their time. If anxiety is the motivation, then they need to learn better emotional management skills, perhaps get them a bit of light counseling on the topic from school or a local community organization.

An important part of establishing trust that is often overlooked is the notion of equality. A parent-child relationship is naturally unequal in power, but it doesn’t have to be excessively and unnecessarily unequal. There are a lot of different kinds of communication, since people communicate with different intents/purposes depending on the circumstances. More often than not, parents only talk to their kids in “parent mode” of ordering them around, interrogating them, or criticizing them. If this is the only mode that kids get to see from you, then they will view you as an authoritarian and their approach to you will be rooted in fear of punishment and the desire for escape. This makes it very difficult for them to trust you because you’ve taught them that your role is to supervise and discipline and nothing else, which means that everything they do will be as far away from your watchful warden eyes as possible.

There’s no avoiding “parent mode” as a parent. However, you can avoid making that the ONLY mode. A better strategy is to pick your battles wisely so that you use parent mode as sparingly as possible, especially with teenagers that are always pressing you for more freedom. But if you’re not using parent mode, then you have to know how to communicate with them in other modes, otherwise, communication tends to dry up quickly. To build trust, do more activities with them and spend more time talking to them in a way that establishes both of you as persons on equal footing. To be clear, I’m not talking about the cliche of being friends with your kids; I believe that you should maintain the position of parental authority until they reach adulthood. I’m talking about communicating heart-to-heart so that they get to know who you are outside of your parental role. Be more willing to share your feelings with them such that they feel encouraged to share theirs with you. Within reason, share with them what’s on your mind and let them in on what’s happening in your private world. You don’t want to let them in completely, however, because you still need to command enough respect to have some authority over them. Talk about problems you’ve encountered or struggled with and how you felt about them, but also talk about what you did to resolve them, which gives them good examples to learn from.

Rebellion is a natural reaction to feeling excessively restricted, and it’s natural for teenagers to feel restricted regardless of whether you are objectively restricting them, because their main preoccupation is independence. Children tend to project their psychological problems onto their parents, and you can make it harder for them to demonize you by humanizing yourself enough for them to empathize with your experience. By communicating in heart-to-heart mode more often than in listen-and-obey mode, they learn that the relationship between you matters in its quality of love and care, not just in whether they follow your rules. When you successfully establish a sense of mutual appreciation for each other, they learn to see you as a person with your own needs and desires, and then they’ll have less desire to rebel against you. If your kid understands that your “parent mode” is just one part of you but that the greater part of you is a fellow human, then their rebellion is likely to take a softer, more respectful form. As a result of trust and good communication, they are more likely to consider negotiating with you first before running off to do something dumb just to spite you. Let them know that you’re always open to calm and sensible negotiations/compromises because it gives them the sense of having some say in the matter. As you gradually “equalize” the relationship through heart-to-heart communication, it’s then easier to transition into an adulthood friendship with them in the future.

From the child’s perspective, I distinctly remember when my parents switched modes with me, perhaps you can recall your experience as well. My mother had a strict rule of never involving kids in adult affairs, ever. Both of my parents come from big families and they all grew up together in a small town (11 siblings between them), so there was always lots of drama going on behind the scenes, but my brother and I were completely oblivious to it growing up. My parents were quite stoic with us and we never really knew what they were thinking, so the relationships were often quite strained because communication was virtually non-existent.

You can imagine my shock when, one day, in my twenties, I was just minding my own business as usual and mom comes into the room and complains about this or that relative. She proceeds to tell me the entire 20+ year backstory of their horrible relationship. I thought she had gone mad for spilling all this shocking info to me out of the blue. Signs of early onset dementia already? But then I realized that this was a role change. I was no longer the kid who had to be kept in the dark. I was now a person who was worthy of being treated as a confidant and even someone smart enough to seek advice from. It was a bittersweet moment. Sweet because, starting in adolescence, people hanker to be treated as an adult by their parents. Bitter because she had decisively given up her authoritarian role and now I had absolutely no cause to keep rebelling against her, lol. The point is, she could’ve given up her authoritarian role more gradually by easing me into the role change in mid-to-late adolescence. We wasted many years being at odds with each other because she couldn’t recognize the ways that I had matured. And some parents aren’t flexible enough to ever make the switch.

In the end, you can only do your best. If I had to come up with a motto about parenting it would be that “Attention is love”. Just be attentive and respond to what’s important to them. Teens appreciate your care even when they don’t show it or claim to not want it, so long as you respect their emotional needs.

PS: There’s already a parenting title on the resources list about teenagers and social media that might be of help.

[aqvarius]

What are your top 5 worst voltage routes?

oh damn this is a tough one haha. i’ve definitely played routes that i find average/forgettable but it’s hard to think of 5 routes that i thought were actually bad. except for one which i’m sure anyone who has followed me for a few years knows about lmao

i was just gonna give brief reasons but then as i was typing this out i couldn’t stop my loudass brain from rambling so... sorry for all the commentary lol. i do want to preface this by saying that these are more critiques of the writing than the characters (except shinobu haha i despise him). i love many of these characters and have enjoyed their epilogues/sequels/substories. my main gripe with most of these is just underdeveloped, jarring or flimsy character and relationship development, which to me makes the process of falling in mutual love unconvincing. that’s why all of these are main stories because they are about the critical moments of falling in love (rather than future developments such as tackling conflicts together) which i think are the foundation to any further growth. so please don’t take any of this personally if any of the guys i’ve mentioned here are characters that you love!

5. main story: takane momochi - destind: mr almost right

so this is more a case of “love the guy, don’t love the route”. i have to admit that i really wasn’t big on takane at first and then i got to the end of the route and realised that i actually didn’t love the mc. i actually quite like the destind mc in rei and araya’s routes but omg takane’s route is weird. i have no problem with takane kind of being a jerk and i actually really like him but i have a couple of issues with this route. the first is that i don’t really understand nor buy into the reason that they keep seeing each other. the mc learns about takane’s true nature and finds him kind of despicable but then decides that she’s definitely gonna make him fall in love with her, which as a plot point on its own i’m fine with but the way thy go into that discussion is really weird because it arises from the mc being appalled that takane had an affair with some teacher when he was a teenager and somehow leads into that discussion. basically i don’t think that the whole “i’m gonna make you fall in love with me” vs “i’m gonna make you sleep with me” challenge is set up particularly organically. 

it also occurs about halfway through the route which i don’t really think works in term of the pacing because within the shape of the narrative i would call it the end of act 1. act 2 would be them genuinely getting closer and then act 3 would be the conflict that develops between them which results in their breakup. with the structure of takane’s route, acts 2 and 3 essentially become crammed into the remaining half of the chapters, which makes the conflict in act 3 feel confusing and abrupt. i think it would have been more effective if they had set up the personality reveal earlier on in the route and then spent more time developing the budding incompatibilities which lead to the breakup-inducing argument.

the second issue that i have with this route is the mc’s lack of development/not addressing the actual mistakes that she makes with regards to how she sees takane. the mc suffers from idolising syndrome because she’s built takane up into this perfect prince in her mind (i guess kind of like with hiroki from mlfk) even though he’s a regular old (substantially) flawed dude who struggles with the pressure of external expectations bc people don’t see the ~real him~. this is all well and good and is set up to allow the mc to accept his flaws and see him as a real human being but instead she’s just like “your flaws aren’t really flaws, they’re just another example of why you’re perfect bc you engage with them!” SIS. he’s not a character that needs validation in that way bc everyone already thinks he’s perfect. he needs someone who can see that he’s FAULTY and help him through it, not just pass off his flaws and the way he deals with them as another point of admiration. destind mc isn’t even like old school perma-optimistic voltage mcs either, she’s a little more prone to judgement so i wish she (and the writing) engaged a little more with takane’s flaws and accepting them rather than just jumping straight to YOU’RE MY HERO. 

as a character i actually prefer him to araya but the fact that i was more convinced to love araya aka mr possessive liar himself is saying something about the story. 

4. main story: genji higashiyama - in your arms tonight

i don’t have much to say in detail because it’s been like 6+ years since i played his route and frankly i don’t remember the details, but i just remember that he was kind of a jackass and i expected better. i love ex-boyfriend/hatsukoi love interests but just didn’t really like his route. 

to quote from an old comment i once made: 

“omg i thought genji had so much potential bc hot exboyf soccer player hellooooo but he was just such a jerk, he really p-ed me off :<” 

“i kind of don’t like genji because he is a bit of a doucheypants and like really arrogant and a bit of a bully :/”

i remember the mc slapped him once after they made out which i don’t remember the context for but he probably deserved it. i was extra sad because i actually really liked him in soji’s route but he’s the team B guy in that one so......... thanks voltage. also he was a dick to everyone’s sweetheart aiba. i actually like him way more after his ms lol? conceptually i love him but his main story made me sad. 

3. main story: satoru kamagiri - 10 days with my devil

i mean this one was bad but i’m weirdly fond of satoru? i have no issues with sadists and i kind of like him (after having read substories). but this route was weird and the pacing felt a bit off to me. basically i have no idea what made him fall in love with the mc?

because i guess he starts being nice to you when he has to nurse you when you get sick and he genuinely feels bad and cares about you but do you really expect me to believe he was already in love with you when he made a date with you but decided to go hang out with other women leaving you standing in the rain for 6 hours? nah fam.

i also don’t remember what the climax of the story even is because i’m still hung up on being left waiting for him in the rain for 6 hours while he goes other women so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. main story: seiji goto - my sweet bodyguard

i’ve talked a lot about the issues i have with this route (including a couple thousand words of review here) but i’ll just summarise. this is definitely another case of love the guy, don’t love the route. in the GREE version, you meet him from the first time at the beginning of his route and gradually learn about his past, but in the standalone app version, you basically get thrown into the route with no exposition, meaning that you have to already have prior knowledge of goto and his backstory. i had known about it so it wasn’t as confusing as it could have been, but you really just get tossed into the mix expecting to already know about kazuki (goto’s dead ex). plus he’s already nice to you from the start because you’ve known each other for a while so there’s less of the actual seeing his behaviour change bit (which is my favourite part of all main stories - in case you couldn’t tell because all of my criticisms about routes are about lack of proper relationship development). kazuki and goto’s relationship is basically the thing that underpins the entire narrative of the route which is why i find it an issue that you don’t get much insight into it going into the route blind. 

it’s difficult to feel like goto and the mc are actually gradually getting closer in the route because it doesn’t feel like there’s one narrative line that’s building throughout the entire route as much as separate events, more or less. she just... looks after goto a lot? also basically goto is interested in you because you remind him of kazuki and when he starts to like you, it’s not actually very evident in his actions - you find this out because kurosawa basically tells you lmao. 

i actually wanted to leave him and date subaru because honestly subaru in goto’s route especially reads like a much healthier relationship option, but then goto runs in and interrupts a date with subaru and drags you straight off to kazuki’s tombstone and then... it’s a happy ending? his confession feels like it comes out of nowhere because his behaviour towards you doesn’t explicitly change but you just have to believe he likes you now as he confesses in front of his ex-gf’s grave and tells her he’ll see her soon. come on bruv you can do better than this lol. 

1. main story: shinobu narita - serendipity next door

this guy fucking sucks, dude. i can’t think of even one single redeeming quality he has. he’s the reason i stopped playing voltage games for like years and went on hiatus and more or less abandoned my blog until i discovered scm. i know there was a lot of controversy about whether or not he could be considered abusive and i threw that word around a lot back in the day when i liveblogged his route but DAMN at the very least he is just the WORST. the mc wakes up in his bed after getting wasted at a rooftop party and he convinces her that they had sex when she was drunk and then blackmails her into being his girlfriend by threatening to tell the entire apartment block that they slept together. he proceeds to snoop around in all her business, maliciously making fun of her and her work at every single chance he gets (he literally RIFLES THROUGH HER BAG to find her work and mock her about it) and then she looks at one document or picture of his and he gets all uppity about it because he’s a big ol hypocrite. basically he hates the mc because she’s so pure and he’s jaded because one time he confessed to someone and she ghosted him? so he deliberately acts nice to her sometimes so she’ll let her guard down and then follows it up with a common or action so malicious i wanted to choke him. all i’m saying is that there are a number of relationships that i never got closure on and it’s never made me want to blackmail a drunk person into dating me so i can mess them up emotionally  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the thing is, i have played other guys who are a bag of suck at first and then get so much better because of character development. and this is what is totally lacking in shinobu’s route. the mc falls in love with him bc of stockholm syndrome... and basically bc omg he’s so sad and damaged and she wants to heal him i guess? it sucks. they literally have no bonding moments where they genuinely connect except for the times when he’s super mean and manipulative to her and and she’s like omg but he’s so saaaaaad uwu. throughout the route, there is absolutely no character development on shinobu’s part, he’s just the same sadistic bastard who enjoys seeing his mc being hurt the whole way through lol but SUDDENLY you guys are in love? but literally at the end the mc tries to escape from him by moving out and instead of letting her go because he’s the worst, he chases her moving truck down? also he’s weirdly possessive even by voltage standards. 

btw this isn’t even just sadists not being my type - you know i adore kaga and eduardo and even people who take ages to warm up (cough shinonome). and you know i love men who tease and manipulate you a bit (because they’re doing it out of a d o r a t i o n not spite) . i also have no problem with outright assholes as long as we see them change, develop and genuinely fall in love. my biggest issue with this route is that i don’t think pity is the same thing as love, or that someone with his personality can get his happy ending without genuinely changing and redeeming himself in some way. i’m not a fan of romanticising guys who are mean to you because they’re so dAmAgEd and want to take it out on you. (the reason i love people like hue is because even though they’re riddled with grief and trauma, they’re mature enough to handle their emotions and you don’t need to fix them!!!) i genuinely think voltage bombed it with this route lol. it almost makes me want to go back and replay it just to see if it was really as bad as i remember but (1) i never transferred it to love 365 (2) it was on my old iphone and i use android now (3) i don’t want to spend money repurchasing a route that i’m 85% sure i’ll feel is a waste of money (4) i spent £2.49 on the route back in the day when voltage was cheaper and i don’t want to spend almost double that now lol. 

also the last time i read his route i abandoned this blog and stopped playing all otome games for a really long time lmao so................................ 

[sitched-a]

                HOW  TO  INTERACT  WITH  KIM POSSIBLE                    (   A  PLOTTING  CHEAT-SHEET   )

so,  you  want  to  write  your  muse  against  kim,  but  you  have  no  idea  what  to  do?  have  no  fear!  plotting  can  be  pretty  daunting—I  know  I  always  blank  on  ideas  the  second  I  go  to  approach  someone  about  something,  or  I’m  always  afraid  I’ll  suggest  something  that’s  overdone  or  that  the  mun  isn’t  particularly  interested  in.  hence,  this  guide!  keep  in  mind  everything  here  is  just  a  suggestion,  so  if  you  have  ideas  that  don’t  really  fit  what  I’ve  put  in  this  guide,  that  is  fine!  throw  them  my  way!  and  happy  plotting!

                                      MEET  KIM  POSSIBLE                               (  aka  a  really  quick  character  cheat  sheet  )

she’s  a  teenager.  in  her  main  verse,  I  play  her  anywhere  from  14  to  18  years  old  ( or  her  freshman  through  senior  year  of  high  school );  she  really  is  your  basic,  average  girl,  deep  down—she’s  preoccupied  with  school,  cheerleading,  boys,  et  cetera,  and  she  likes  to  spend  time  with  her  friends,  be  it  grabbing  some  snackage  at  bueno  nacho,  or  hanging  around  the  middleton  mall.

she’s  also  a  vigilante.  an  internationally  ( and  in  season  4,  inter-galactically ) known  vigilante,  or,  as  she’s  more  commonly  referred  to,  “teen  hero.”  unique  to  most  hero  stories,  everyone  knows  her  identity  because  she’s  never  bothered  concealing  it.  she’s  been  all  over  the  world  multiple  times  and  has  met  several  people  throughout  her  missions  and  travels.

she’s  very  involved.  captain  of  the  cheer  squad?  check.  member  of  the  varsity  swim  team?  check.  academic  tutor,  chair  of  the  dance  committee,  yearbook  committee,  and  founding  member  of  the  middleton  environmental  club?  check,  check,  check,  and  check.  on  top  of  all  of  the  above  she  volunteers  at  the  middleton  hospital  with  the  sunshine  spreaders,  works  alongside  local  food  banks  and  outreach  shelters,  and  still  finds  time  to  get  her  homework  done  and  maintain  a  social  life.

                             PRE-ESTABLISHED  RELATIONSHIPS                                (  aka  a  starting  point  for  fleshing  out  dynamics  )

be  a  classmate.  middleton  is  the  ‘suburban’  part  of  a  larger  city  made  up  of  three  sub-cities  ( middleton,  upperton,  and  lowerton )  and  middleton  high  school  has  roughly  1,000  students  at  any  given  time;  suffice  to  say  kim  has  a  lot  of  classmates  around  her,  some  she  gets  along  with,  some  she  doesn’t;  because  she’s  so  involved,  she  knows  a  lot  of  people—make  your  muse  one  of  them!

be  someone  she’s  helped.  sis  has  been  all  around  the  world  fifty  times  over  and  she’s  helped  countless  people,  directly  or  indirectly.  a  running  gag  in  the  show  is  when  she  gets  a  ride  to  a  mission,  thanks  the  person  for  the  lift,  and  is  met  with  “it’s  the  least  I  could  do  after  you  saved  my  [x]  from  [y]!”;  she  has  a  strict  policy  about  not  charging  money  for  missions  and  only  asks  that  she  get  a  ride  from  point  A  to  point  B  if  it’s  something  a contact  can  accommodate.  likewise,  she  likes  to  stay  in  contact  with  the  people  she’s  helped,  making  sure  they’re  doing  well  and  just  keeping  that  friendship  alive  and  fresh.

be  involved  in  a  club/organization  with  kim.  I listed  most  of  them  above  but  needless  to  say,  kim  has  a  wide  interest  in  activities  and  clubs  at  middleton;  pretty  much  the  only  thing  she’s  not  involved  in  is  the  more  artistic  departments  ( she’d  be  a  bitchin’  stage  manager  though,  i’m  js );  maybe  your  muse  is  on  the  cheer  squad  or  swim  team  with  kim,  maybe  she  tutors  them  in  chemistry,  maybe  they’re  a  fellow  tutor  and  on  the  slow  days  they  just  chill  in  the  library  together—the  possibilities  are  endless.

be  one  of  her  colleagues.  this  works  best  with  adult  muses  or  other  heroes;  while  kim’s  world-saving  operation  is  entirely  nonprofit  and  not  really  a  job  so  much  as  technically  a  hobby,  she  has  many  professional  connections  within  the  heroism  business,  including  peace-keeping  organizations  like  global  justice  ( basically  the  kp  equivalent  of  SHIELD ).  if  your  muse  has  the  powers/skills,  partner  them  up  with  kim  for  a  mission  ( bonus  points  if  they’re  as  much  of  a  control  freak  as  she  is—it  might  not  end  well  but  it’ll  be  hilarious ).

reside  in  middleton  in  some  capacity.  middleton’s  a  pretty  large  city  that,  again,  makes  up  one  third  of  a  large  metropolitan  area.  kim  somehow  knows  pretty  much  everyone;  she  frequents  the  middleton  mall,  the  multiplex,  middleton  mini-golf,  and  of  course,  bueno  nacho  the  most.  maybe  your  muse  works  there,  maybe  they  also  hang  around  those  places  a  lot,  maybe  they  both  end  up  seeing  the  same  ansel  elgort  movie  15  times—who’s  to  say.

be  a  villain.  if  your  muse  is  naturally  an  antagonist  and  isn’t  already  a  supervillain,  this  is  the  perfect  opportunity  for  you  to  explore  that!  and  if  your  muse  is  already  a  supervillain,  now’s  the  perfect  opportunity  for  them  to  gain  another  nemesis—kim’s  plucky,  wholesome,  and  has  a  mean  right  hook  and  a  tenacity  to  do  good  recklessly.  do  with  that  what  you  will!

                               THINGS  I  WANT  TO  EXPLORE                                 (  aka  a  living  document  of  my  wishlist  tag  )

kim’s  flaws.  world-famous  heroes,  they’re  just  like  us!  seriously  though;  kim  is  prone  to  jealousy  at  times  when  she  feels  like  someone  might  have  a  leg-up  on  her  in  something  she’s  deemed  “the  best”  at;  it  can  get  ugly,  and  I  like  exploring  how  kim’s  jealous  tendencies  can  negatively  impact  things  around  her  if  she  lets  those  emotions  get  too  out  of  hand.  she’ll  resent  your  muse  at  first,  but  that  leaves  plenty  of  opportunity  for  growth!

kim  working  with  the  enemy.  my  favorite  episodes  of  kim  possible  are  the  ones  where  she  ends  up  working  with / helping  her  foes  because  they’re  the  ones  who  desperately  need  it / she  needs  them  to  set  things  right.  this  can  be  on  a  small  scale  with  school  rivals  or  on  a  large  scale  with  whole  supervillains—the  limit  does  not  exist!

kim  getting  framed  for  a  crime.  it  happened  in  the  show  with  camille  leon  but  I  really  love  the  idea  of  someone  kim’s  put  behind  bars  breaking  out  and  framing  kim  for  all  the  crimes  they  start  committing,  and  kim  having  to  work  double  to  find  out  who’s  doing  this  and  to  prove  her  innocence.

                            more  to  be  added  as  ideas  come  to  me

                        THINGS  I’M  NOT  INTERESTED  IN                                (   aka……  it’s  pretty  self-explanatory   )

to  be  added  as  needed!

                                     FINAL  THOUGHTS

this  has  been  sitting  in  my  drafts  for  over  two  months  now  and  I’m  FINALLY  getting  around  to  posting  it,  please  just  plot  with  me  thank  you.

[sitched]

                 HOW  TO  INTERACT  WITH  KIM  POSSIBLE                    (   A  PLOTTING  CHEAT-SHEET   )

so,  you  want  to  write  your  muse  against  kim,  but  you  have  no  idea  what  to  do?  have  no  fear!  plotting  can  be  pretty  daunting—I  know  I  always  blank  on  ideas  the  second  I  go  to  approach  someone  about  something,  or  I’m  always  afraid  I’ll  suggest  something  that’s  overdone  or  that  the  mun  isn’t  particularly  interested  in.  hence,  this  guide!  keep  in  mind  everything  here  is  just  a  suggestion,  so  if  you  have  ideas  that  don’t  really  fit  what  I’ve  put  in  this  guide,  that  is  fine!  throw  them  my  way!  and  happy  plotting!

                                     MEET  KIM  POSSIBLE                              (  aka  a  really  quick  character  cheat  sheet  )

she’s  a  teenager.  in  her  main  verse,  I  play  her  anywhere  from  14  to  18  years  old  ( or  her  freshman  through  senior  year  of  high  school );  she  really  is  your  basic,  average  girl,  deep  down—she’s  preoccupied  with  school,  cheerleading,  boys,  et  cetera,  and  she  likes  to  spend  time  with  her  friends,  be  it  grabbing  some  snackage  at  bueno  nacho,  or  hanging  around  the  middleton  mall.

she’s  also  a  vigilante.  an  internationally  ( and  in  season  4,  inter-galactically ) known  vigilante,  or,  as  she’s  more  commonly  referred  to,  “teen  hero.”  unique  to  most  hero  stories,  everyone  knows  her  identity  because  she’s  never  bothered  concealing  it.  she’s  been  all  over  the  world  multiple  times  and  has  met  several  people  throughout  her  missions  and  travels.

she’s  very  involved.  captain  of  the  cheer  squad?  check.  member  of  the  varsity  swim  team?  check.  academic  tutor,  chair  of  the  dance  committee,  yearbook  committee,  and  founding  member  of  the  middleton  environmental  club?  check,  check,  check,  and  check.  on  top  of  all  of  the  above  she  volunteers  at  the  middleton  hospital  with  the  sunshine  spreaders,  works  alongside  local  food  banks  and  outreach  shelters,  and  still  finds  time  to  get  her  homework  done  and  maintain  a  social  life.

                            PRE-ESTABLISHED  RELATIONSHIPS                               (  aka  a  starting  point  for  fleshing  out  dynamics  )

be  a  classmate.  middleton  is  the  ‘suburban’  part  of  a  larger  city  made  up  of  three  sub-cities  ( middleton,  upperton,  and  lowerton )  and  middleton  high  school  has  roughly  1,000  students  at  any  given  time;  suffice  to  say  kim  has  a  lot  of  classmates  around  her,  some  she  gets  along  with,  some  she  doesn’t;  because  she’s  so  involved,  she  knows  a  lot  of  people—make  your  muse  one  of  them!

be  someone  she’s  helped.  sis  has  been  all  around  the  world  fifty  times  over  and  she’s  helped  countless  people,  directly  or  indirectly.  a  running  gag  in  the  show  is  when  she  gets  a  ride  to  a  mission,  thanks  the  person  for  the  lift,  and  is  met  with  “it’s  the  least  I  could  do  after  you  saved  my  [x]  from  [y]!”;  she  has  a  strict  policy  about  not  charging  money  for  missions  and  only  asks  that  she  get  a  ride  from  point  A  to  point  B  if  it’s  something  a contact  can  accommodate.  likewise,  she  likes  to  stay  in  contact  with  the  people  she’s  helped,  making  sure  they’re  doing  well  and  just  keeping  that  friendship  alive  and  fresh.

be  involved  in  a  club/organization  with  kim.  I listed  most  of  them  above  but  needless  to  say,  kim  has  a  wide  interest  in  activities  and  clubs  at  middleton;  pretty  much  the  only  thing  she’s  not  involved  in  is  the  more  artistic  departments  ( she’d  be  a  bitchin’  stage  manager  though,  i’m  js );  maybe  your  muse  is  on  the  cheer  squad  or  swim  team  with  kim,  maybe  she  tutors  them  in  chemistry,  maybe  they’re  a  fellow  tutor  and  on  the  slow  days  they  just  chill  in  the  library  together—the  possibilities  are  endless.

be  one  of  her  colleagues.  this  works  best  with  adult  muses  or  other  heroes;  while  kim’s  world-saving  operation  is  entirely  nonprofit  and  not  really  a  job  so  much  as  technically  a  hobby,  she  has  many  professional  connections  within  the  heroism  business,  including  peace-keeping  organizations  like  global  justice  ( basically  the  kp  equivalent  of  SHIELD ).  if  your  muse  has  the  powers/skills,  partner  them  up  with  kim  for  a  mission  ( bonus  points  if  they’re  as  much  of  a  control  freak  as  she  is—it  might  not  end  well  but  it’ll  be  hilarious ).

reside  in  middleton  in  some  capacity.  middleton’s  a  pretty  large  city  that,  again,  makes  up  one  third  of  a  large  metropolitan  area.  kim  somehow  knows  pretty  much  everyone;  she  frequents  the  middleton  mall,  the  multiplex,  middleton  mini-golf,  and  of  course,  bueno  nacho  the  most.  maybe  your  muse  works  there,  maybe  they  also  hang  around  those  places  a  lot,  maybe  they  both  end  up  seeing  the  same  ansel  elgort  movie  15  times—who’s  to  say.

be  a  villain.  if  your  muse  is  naturally  an  antagonist  and  isn’t  already  a  supervillain,  this  is  the  perfect  opportunity  for  you  to  explore  that!  and  if  your  muse  is  already  a  supervillain,  now’s  the  perfect  opportunity  for  them  to  gain  another  nemesis—kim’s  plucky,  wholesome,  and  has  a  mean  right  hook  and  a  tenacity  to  do  good  recklessly.  do  with  that  what  you  will!

                              THINGS  I  WANT  TO  EXPLORE                                (  aka  a  living  document  of  my  wishlist  tag  )

kim’s  flaws.  world-famous  heroes,  they’re  just  like  us!  seriously  though;  kim  is  prone  to  jealousy  at  times  when  she  feels  like  someone  might  have  a  leg-up  on  her  in  something  she’s  deemed  “the  best”  at;  it  can  get  ugly,  and  I  like  exploring  how  kim’s  jealous  tendencies  can  negatively  impact  things  around  her  if  she  lets  those  emotions  get  too  out  of  hand.  she’ll  resent  your  muse  at  first,  but  that  leaves  plenty  of  opportunity  for  growth!

kim  working  with  the  enemy.  my  favorite  episodes  of  kim  possible  are  the  ones  where  she  ends  up  working  with / helping  her  foes  because  they’re  the  ones  who  desperately  need  it / she  needs  them  to  set  things  right.  this  can  be  on  a  small  scale  with  school  rivals  or  on  a  large  scale  with  whole  supervillains—the  limit  does  not  exist!

kim  getting  framed  for  a  crime.  it  happened  in  the  show  with  camille  leon  but  I  really  love  the  idea  of  someone  kim’s  put  behind  bars  breaking  out  and  framing  kim  for  all  the  crimes  they  start  committing,  and  kim  having  to  work  double  to  find  out  who’s  doing  this  and  to  prove  her  innocence.

                           more  to  be  added  as  ideas  come  to  me

                       THINGS  I’M  NOT  INTERESTED  IN                               (   aka……  it’s  pretty  self-explanatory   )

to  be  added  as  needed!

                                    FINAL  THOUGHTS

this  has  been  sitting  in  my  drafts  for  over  two  months  now  and  I’m  FINALLY  getting  around  to  posting  it,  please  just  plot  with  me  thank  you.

[initiumseries]

I wanted to ask: What were your thoughts on the CAOS season 2 finale?

Oh my god thank you for asking, I’ve had the beginnings of a review sitting in my drafts forever because I’ve just been so busy. But I can definitely break down my thoughts on the CAOS finale here (this gonna be long lol)!Ok so, a few points that stick out from memory (all building to that shitty finale): 

- I wish CAOS took far more care and was more deliberate in building this world and the mythos. Like…anti-pope? Really? That’s the best they could come up with? DRESSED LIKE THE ACTUAL POPE, just in black and silver instead of red and gold? LOL. How fucking original.  

Also, they need to explain this universe to me because if everything about witches and the Dark Lord is the complete antithesis of Christianity then, explain why they insisted on beating me to death every damn episode with how patriarchal, chauvinistic and oppressive this world is? Like, that IS christianity lmfao. So like, why isn’t this satanic world not more free loving, progressive and matriarchal? Why aren’t women revered? Why is Lilith the Dark Lord’s servant? Her origin story is still stupid because the whole reason she was cast out was for not being subservient to Adam, but she met Lucifer and just blindly bent the knee and tolerated centuries of abuse and mistreatment…for the hope of becoming the Queen of Hell? Her reason to Sabrina makes literally NO SENSE. Also, they’re so inconsistent, sexual fluidity is fine, orgies are great, promiscuity is celebrated, and encouraged, even in teenagers: 

but women must be subjugated? How does that even make sense? And like…why? They don’t even provide a reason. It’s literally just “because we say so. Lol.” I guess they’d have to actually think of something interesting instead of leaning on the crutch of white feminism and choking us all with it, so it was easier to just…do this. - Season 1 establishes Prudence to be extremely dedicated to her culture and customs, she was prepared to die as Queen of the Feast, and she was gonna have fun on her way out.

(im gonna come back to the blessing that is P&A in A MOMENT) While she wasn’t prone to questioning witch customs, she was still the leader of the weird sisters (she even gets upset when they make decisions without her prior approval) and controlled that school with an steel grip or whatever. It was well established she thought for herself and wasn’t afraid of challenging someone when she thought it appropriate.

 But she finds out her father is Father Blackwood, whom she’d only shown the appropriate amount of deference to up until now, and now all of a sudden she’s mewling and begging for his acceptance and name? All season? Why? The first couple sexist ass rejections should have been enough for her to say, ok well fuck you, but instead she goes so far as to imprison Ambrose and allow him to be tortured all because of whatever Father Blackwood said? With no questioning, no guilt or second guessing even? She just blindly believes Ambrose is guilty until she herself is under fire? But like why? This shitty plot required an extreme dumbing down of Prudence’s character and that really sucks. - Ambrose and Prudence were the best part of this show and I want a spin off and I want it YESTERDAY. 

Like…I would watch a whole season of them dressed like this just hunting down Father Blackwood and hooking up and maybe mashing up some other things on the way lmao. This is all I want from CAOS is these two, nothing else. This was the best moment of the finale tbh. And it was high key dry because I watched them get up to foolishness for too long before it. 

- Sabrina is supposed to become the Dark Lord’s queen/wife…but he’s her Dad? Can y’all just slow tf down on all the damn incest? Also, this is literally the most chemistry Sabrina has had with literally anyone on this show because ofc it is (and that’s not saying much but like…it’s less painful than Austin Harvey).

- Also BIG FAN (not) of the random musical moment on the last episode to top off this extremely tacky, extremely corny season on a peak of bullshit. Also…who is the costume designer? Who can I send my formal complaint to about that crown? And this entire outfit? Anyway… - Sabrina is SO DUMB for taking THIS LONG to suspect Ms. Wardwell before now.  SHE LEGIT WAS GONNA LEAVE YOU IN LIMBO SIS LOL. Her white feminist speechifying was boring and wack but I guess it led to Lilith becoming Queen of Hell so…yay? I guess?? A more progressive Hell with a woman leading it!!  Also, I’m still waiting on an explanation of Sabrina’s resurrection and those RANDOM ass archangels that showed up out of nowhere. That could have been super interesting if the writers didn’t write this show like it was a bad acid trip.- Satan needed more bass in his voice. - my biggest gripe: How did we get here Father Blackwood? Like…you was always intense, but we went from using magic on your wife (Zelda really should have expected as much tbh I’m not sure how she didn’t from that moment they were walking down the steps. I hate how this plot required ALL the women to be dumber than normal) to using magicked teenagers to murder the anti pope and then pulling a Jonestown on like…the entire coven and dipsetting in like 2.5 seconds? But like…WHY? I don’t understand how everything escalated so fast and so far out of the realm of sense. Dude just decided “well IF I CAN’T OPPRESS WOMEN, NO ONE CAN.” And killed everybody? And given that the show went through great pains to articulate just how thoroughly sexist all the men in authority positions were…I don’t understand why he even bothered. Based on their attitudes, there’s literally no reason the anti-pope would accept Sabrina’s father’s ideas for the future of the coven. He would just be like “mmm cool story but I like assaulting women too much.” And kept it pushing. Talk about CONTRIVED. This show is just SO WACK but at least Sabrina and that crunchy wig of hers got cussed out a couple times I guess. 

[dxmedstudent]

Your posts about dating are so entertaining to me. I met my current boyfriend on tinder, and swiped right mostly because he had a long and fairly well-thought out bio! I suppose I saw in it a loose predictor of how much effort he’s gonna put into communicating with me, first through messages (check!), then on the first few dates we went on before getting together (check!) and in our relationship (also check!). Gentlemen, your bio does matter ;)

Aww thank you! I’m really glad! Sometimes I wonder if I’m boring, talking about that kind of thing, but I guess it makes a break from ranting about medicine. I was never prone to gushing about romance, not even as a teenager. But I’ve been thinking about it a lot since I started dating most recently, especially since a fair few of my friends have also recently gotten back into dating. And I think it’s been fun sharing some of that with you. I’m a big sis, so deep down, I’m always thinking about younger followers, and the kinds of messages they get from society, and what I can tell people to make their life easier. I guess a big sis never switches off from giving advice!

I thought more or less the same thing when I was looking. If someone can barely be bothered to put together a few words, how much do they really want to find someone special? How much effort will they put into seeing me if writing a few sentences is too much effort? I worked on my profile, because I wanted to find someone who had things in common with me and would gel with me as a person. If they won’t share part of themselves, how can we know we have anything in common? I wanted to see that someone is fun, smart, has a sense of humor and likes similar things to me; a good profile can be a huge asset. My experiences are similar; ultimately I only agreed to dates with people whose profiles were great, and who engaged really well whilst messaging. In retrospect, I can say that the guy I’m currently seeing stood out; even before I met him, talking to him felt different, in a good way. I felt that our humor was on the same wavelength, and our epically long messages on the dating site definitely helped with that. If a guy doesn’t make any effort, they don’t give it a chance for anything like that to happen.

I did start out more charitable, because, as I’ve always said, I think we should have as few preconceptions and conditions as possible if we want to find someone. But I learned that people who don’t put effort into their profile rarely put it into messaging and getting to know you, either. So I learned to expect effort; I didn’t expect anything I wasn’t prepared to give, but I did expect someone who was also sincerely trying. I’m glad that I expected more; I think we need to hold out for someone who puts the effort in and feels genuine.

[curedeity]

 Gasher's Repose

Summary: Madoka does not battle, she has many other ways to pass the time though. And sometimes, she passes the time together.

   Madoka wouldn’t call her engineering a hobby. At this point, it was more a prospective career. She still enjoyed doing it, but she could have fun doing more than a singular thing. And having a wide range of talents and interests was quite important.

    Everyone wanted to participate in Battle Bladers. It was no surprise, they were all very competitive, and given the danger of the Dark Nebula organization, they’d want as many people they knew competing in the tournament as possible.

    But that didn’t mean Madoka didn’t have objections to it.

    Well, not objections so much as stipulations.

    “Does this look good?” Kenta frowned as he flipped over the piece of chicken he was grilling under Madoka’s watchful eye. If Kenta was going to be traveling alone (because he was too stubborn to have Gingka babysit him) she sure as hell wasn’t going to be letting him eat dogshit the entire time.

    “Hm…” Madoka inspected the piece of meat. “5 more minutes and we’ll check it again. It should be lighter.”

    Kenta sighed and slipped the piece back over letting it sizzle in the pan. He had agreed enthusiastically to the lessons, as Kenta was prone to do. His eagerness was always welcome, but Madoka could tell that the amount of time she had kept him cooking was starting to grate on even him.

    It had started with her teaching him a simple recipe for pancakes, then how to properly prepare veggies, and now onto how to cook meat. 

    “When’d you learn to cook Madoka?” Kenta asked absent-mindedly as he kept his eyes on the chicken.

    Madoka paused, the memory coming to her with frightening yet relieving ease. “Well my grandma showed me a few recipes, she really loved to cook,” Madoka reminisced, rustling through her shelves. “But I was pretty young so I didn’t learn much, it was only later that- Aha!-” Madoka pulled a book out of the mess. “-She gave me this family recipe book and I learned a lot from following the instructions in it.”

    She passed the book to Kenta, who paged through it carefully. It was decorated with simple illustrations, and a few photos that Madoka believed her grandmother had taken. The pages were worn down from the constant use Madoka put it through, and the pages yellowed with age.

    “Hey, you’ve made us this before!” Kenta said, his voice rising excitedly into an almost yell as he pointed at a cake recipe. Madoka leaned over his shoulder, nodding. 

    “That’s one of my favorite sweets to make.” Grandma had used to make it on her birthday, chocolate peanut butter cake topped with caramel coated nuts. That cake was the reason Madoka thanked biology every day for not giving her a peanut allergy.

    “It’s one of my favorites to eat,” Kenta mumbled, and Madoka hid her giggle as a clearing of the throat.

    “All the recipes in there are very good, tried and tested through my family for generations,” Madoka winked. “You can use the book any time if you want to try cooking something new, even I haven’t gone through everything yet.”

    “There’s just so much, how am I going to learn to cook this all?” Kenta continued to flip through the book, only this time with a mounting horror.

    Madoka hummed, quickly trying to think of words to dispel her young friend’s fears. “Well, most of it is just about learning the basics. Like most things, baking is just a combination of elements. I’m hoping to teach you some simple elements so you can apply them while you travel.”

    Kenta nodded. Madoka could remember as a child how daunting that same cookbook had seemed, but that was so distant now. 

    Madoka laid her hand on Kenta’s shoulder, smiling down at him. “You’re doing great,” She praised. Kenta reacted well to compliments, and it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve some. He had patiently done what Madoka asked, and he was learning well.

    Kenta immediately smiled. “Thanks Madoka!” He chirped.

    Cooking was one of Madoka’s passions. A survival skill, but also a way to connect with others. She had learned so much about her family from this cookbook and now… well now she had shared it with Gingka and Kenta.

    It was really fun.

    Madoka sniffed, staving off happy tears. Her kitchen smelled of spice… and smoke.

    “Fuc-dge!” Madoka swore, spinning around as she and Kenta frantically turned off the stove and tried to salvage the chicken.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    She cleaned everyone’s beys. Scanned them once more and updated the files she’d had on them. Cleaned her tools. Had her leftover pieces ready to be swapped in if a worse scenario happened during their next tournament battle. 

    Was there really nothing left to do?

    Her eyes roved over the supply case once again, and another time. Maybe she should make them shine, just a bit more.

    “No, bad Madoka,” She admonished her workaholic self, slapping the back of her palm lightly. “Just relax.” There was no more work left to do, and at this point all she’d be doing would be stressing herself out more. 

    Pulling out her computer, she hovered the cursor around, chewing her lip. There was still a while before night would truly set in, it was too early to sleep with the last rays of the sun still casting light. She didn’t really want to play a visual novel right now, too much reading. Finally, she decided upon a racing game, opening it up to the quiet sound effect of an engine revving.

    Madoka smirked as she joined a group. The race track was slowly decided, a beginner’s course. Shame, she had voted for the speed track, it had some rather unique mechanics she had learned to abuse.

    Coding was a skill that would take people years to learn. It was a slow process of building up equations and scripts until something came of it. Madoka was not a coder. Madoka had, however, gone into the files of some of her favorite games and maybe messed around with them a bit, just to find out exactly how the games worked.

    Needless to say, she knew how to play.

    Winning the first round was easy, as was the second and third. It felt cheap, in a way, to be playing against people who likely weren’t as experienced as her. But she didn’t have anyone else to challenge, and it’s not like losing should rob the game of its fun.

    Besides, they seemed to be enjoying ganging up on her.

    It felt like so long ago that she had met her new friends, when in reality it was only a year. In that year, however, she had become quite used to being startled. That’s why she didn’t even blink when Yu barged into her room, pulling Masamune behind, and flopped down on the bed beside her.

    “Madoka,” Yu whined, tugging at her arm. “I’m bored,”

    Yu was a very talented blader, Madoka had nothing but respect for his skill, her brain still echoing the time he had beaten Gingka. Yu was also a small brat.

    “And?” Madoka hummed, lapping one of the players that had gotten stuck in a sticky trap.

    “Masamune won’t play with me, he keeps saying he’s too busy.” Madoka could hear the pout in Yu’s words. She had been spending too much damn time with this kid to be able to recognize it this easily.

    “Well, when you’re the world’s number one blader, you have to keep practicing all the time,” Masamune scoffed. Oh, to have an ego that large, Madoka wished she knew the feeling.

    “Hm, you didn’t seem that busy yesterday when you were crying over a romcom, surely you can spend some time entertaining Yu,” Madoka pointed out. 

    Masamune spluttered, Yu yelled, “I wasn’t crying!” “I don’t need to be babysitted!”

    Madoka passed the finish line and logged out of the server, watching the tourney she had just destroyed get added to her ever increasing win rate, Then she leveled the two with the driest glare she, tiredly, could muster. Masamune reeled backwards, realizing his mistake, and Yu slammed his mouth shut.

    Really, this wasn’t abnormal or even a shock. They were all teenagers, with small attention spans and easily bruised egos. It was almost every day that an argument would break out over what to spend the day doing. Honestly, it seemed like the only thing they could agree on most of the time was beybattles.

    “How about this, I teach you both to play a racing game?” Madoka offered, pulling out some extra controllers she had and passing them off.

    Yu brightened immediately. “Oh yippee! Masamune, I’m gonna kick your ass!”

    “Language,” Madoka chastised as she synced the controllers in.

    “I’m number one, there’s absolutely no way I’m losing!”

    Madoka would never beat either of these two in a beybattle. This was not a problem for her, and she had no issues admitting it. Both were talented in their sport, and she respected that.

    But it did feel good to lap them in every single game they played.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Madoka didn’t take up new hobbies often. This was more from a lack of time to continue even her old ones than lack of interest. Now, stuck travelling so often, she ended up having more time on her hands than she even knew what to do with.

    She had to say, she never would’ve imagined herself learning to knit, yet here she was with a tutorial video opened in front of her.

    “I think you’re casting them on wrong,” Tsubasa frowned as he glanced between her tangled mess and the instructions. He was having his own problems, but had luckily made it through the casting stage.

    That didn’t mean he knew how to explain how he’d done it, Madoka was frustratingly coming to realize.

    “What are sides even? What are directions?” She mourned as she unknotted her abomination.

    Tsubasa shrugged, getting started on his second, lumpy and uneven row.

    It had been agreed upon by the entire time that they’d switch seats every time they traveled. As well as some of them could get along, if any of them spent too much time around the same single other person, blood would be shed.

    This time, it was Tsubasa’s and Madoka’s turn to hang out, while the other three snored away across the aisle. 

    “Maybe crochet is easier,” Madoka grouched.

    “I would fear trying to do anything like this with only a single needle,” Tsubasa replied gravely, his gaze full of fear as he pulled through another stitch.

    Madoka frowned, “I’m pretty sure crochet is more complicated than that.” It would have to be, wouldn’t it?

    Tsubasa shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.” And Madoka couldn’t disagree with that statement.

    They had both decided to start easily. Madoka would be making a new scarf for Gingka. While in Russia, she had learned that his normal scarf, with all it’s length, had no volume or actual protection against the cold. It was an insult to scarves that she intended to rectify. Tsubasa was planning a small pouch to replace the old one on his belt, though she suspected he’d be better off buying a new one until he got the hang of knitting.

    Not that she could say any better for herself…

    “I’m going to be giving Gingka the lumpiest, most lopsided scarf in existence,” Madoka announced, finally finishing casting on. Yes her yarn had begun to fray, but at least it was on the needle now!

    “If it truly looks that awful, you could always give it to Director Ryo,” Tsubasa deadpanned.

    Madoka saw her opportunity and swooped in for the kill. “Unlike you, Director Ryo hasn’t practically adopted me yet, so the gift really would be coming out of nowhere.” Madoka… honestly didn’t know that much about Tsubasa, or many of her friends. It was always nice in moments like these to tease them about what she did know.

    Tsubasa spluttered and Madoka set down her knitting so she could cover up her laughs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Being a mechanic for beys, Madoka really should’ve known more about astrology. It was always strange to remember that even Gingka knew more about constellations than she did. She wasn’t completely ignorant, but comparatively she was lacking.

    Yuki had lived his whole life revolved around the stars, learning to draw lines from brilliant dot to bright light every night. He was an actual expert among their group, and on the nights they camped out he proved it unintentionally.

    It didn’t take much to convince him to set-up a telescope at the hotel they’d be staying at for a few days.

    “So, the fall constellations should be out right now, do you know which ones those are Ms. Madoka?” Yuki asked, fiddling with the telescope as he tried to angle it just right. 

    “Yep, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a refresher,” Madoka smiled at the younger boy. 

    Yuki nodded, launching into an explanation Madoka only understood half of, because at some point he’d decided to go into the science behind the expansion of stars. It was quite interesting though, listening with one half of her brain, and looking up towards the tapestry of the sky with the other.

    He was so excited, and Madoka let herself get swallowed in that enjoyment.

[wannawrite]

Sweeter Than Candy

Wanna One’s Park Woojin X Reader

Fluffier than cotton candy

Word count: 3255

• summer’s here whooo it’s time to make extra cash [ to save for merch and concerts amirite ;) ] • you’re hella heart eyes for your new coworker • let’s see what happens hurh ;)

i’m the most unoriginal person to ever exist. Your job is at a damn candy store but that’s only because I was being all sentimental and emotional about the times my friends and I would go to the candy stores and pig out….sigh, it’s very far away from our homes though so we don’t go nowadays :((( Anyways, i hope you like it anon :)) , soRRY IT’S LIKE TWO WEEKS LATE I’VE BEEN STUDYING

- admin L

PS: will be edited soon [ 7/8/2017 ] 

edited: 7/8/2017 __________

Oh my god…..if he’s going to sneak another sugared fruit jelly into his mouth i’m gonna….yeah okay

You sighed, staring sheepishly at your coworker - Park Woojin - in a non-stalkerish, totally friendly kind of way as he popped yet another piece of candy into his mouth while working. He knew you were eyeing his every move and winked cheekily before speeding off to assist another customer.

It was finally summer and as much as you wanted to let your hair down and party, you also wanted to make some extra pocket money, a little could always go a long way. So, you had taken up your parents’ suggestion of working at the nearby candy store, The Sugar Shaker. Despite it’s… peculiar name, it was a very popular store and was constantly filled with people, be it young children from the neighbourhood elementary school, teenagers stocking up on their study snacks or even working adults giving into their candy cravings, everyone in this estate loved The Sugar Shaker. The atmosphere was always bubbly and lively, there was never a dull day.

Especially when you had a shift with Woojin.

You would be the world’s biggest liar if you said that his presence didn’t light up the entire room. Woojin was always so talkative and funny, albeit he could be really awkward and dorky on occasion but you only added those to the list of things you liked about the boy. He made you laugh at his silly jokes when both of you worked the latest shifts and showed his sweet side by telling you to go home early when he saw you dozing off on the counter.

“Go ahead at head home, Y/N. I can pack up. Your health is so much more important,” Woojin had told you, smiling despite how tired he was and showing you his snaggletooth. It only made him more and more charming.

When you refused to leave him by himself, he made you nap in the break room, using his black hoodie as a pillow. It smelled like his cologne so you really didn’t have any issues with it.

Woojin was rather popular with the girls’ around here, at school, at work, in the store, they all whispered and giggled about him. You couldn’t blame them, he was indeed made out of 110% boyfriend material.

Any girl would be lucky to have him…I just wish it was me….oh, he’s so-

“Y/N!” Your other coworker, the older and more experienced Hyonju unnie yelled, glaring at you but there was a playful twinkle in her eye. She was already in college and yes, had her fair share of boyfriends while you had never had one.

“Ugh, what am I going to do with you,” she said, not looking up from packing a customers bag of candy and once they had left, continued. “You keep admiring him from afar but never actually makes a move…ahh.”

You blushed bright red and returned to your original task of manning the till but your mind wandered back to Woojin.

No, no. Let’s focus, now…..but-No!

Hyonju unnie shook her head, snickering at you. She pinched your burning cheeks affectionately. “Awww, my cute dongsaeng is scared. Never fear, you started summer with a new job and we’ll make sure it ends with a new relationship!”

You swore under your breath, praying Woojin hadn’t heard whatever nonense Hyonju was spewing.

“How can I? Woojin’s way too good for me, it’s impossible,” you muttered, rather reluctant to admit the truth. Hyonju heard this and gasped, smacking your arm. “Don’t say these kinds of things! I don’t believe them for a second! Look, out of all these girls in the neighbourhood that admire him, you’re the best and probably the only good fit for him. Ahhh! So cute! Just date already!”

Woojin approached the cashier without either of you noticing. “What’s so cute?” He asked, his nose scrunched up adorably in confusion.

“Nothing! Nothing, nope!” You insisted, unable to look him in the eye for you were afraid he would pick up clues from Hyonju’s cocky smirk and your scarlet cheeks.

“Ahh, I get it, girl talk. It’s okay Y/N, if anything, I find you cuter. Don’t be demoralised.” Woojin patted your shoulder while grinning, before moving off to the other side of the shop. What he had assumed wasn’t exactly right and that was one of his dorky points, the appearance of his trait made you crush even harder on him.

It was tough to ignore Hyonju unnie’s surprised yet delighted expression and her constant teasing for the next few hours.

“Oh my god, stop it!” You hissed at her even though she hadn’t done or said anything.

Hyonju simply giggled, shrugging.

“The ball is in your court sis.”

…

The sun had barely risen over the horizon but you were already trudging in the direction of The Sugar Shaker. You squeezed your tired eyes shut, still groggy and half asleep. There was no real point in opening the shop at 8.30 in the morning, there were barely any customers. Perhaps the handful of high school students or kindergarten kids who had begged their parents to leave the house a little earlier to visit the candy shop. You really disliked this shift.

Part of the reason was that Woojin didn’t work this one with you but the later, afternoon one with the other pretty high school girl, Lisa. You couldn’t hold anything against her, she was a nice friend.

Ugh…Hyonju unnie is probably going to tease me all the way today, you complained internally as you approached the store. The neon light sign had yet to be switched on but the inside was already well lit. Puzzled, you slipped under the shutter, only to be blinded by the brightness.

Strange, unnie NEVER reaches before I do…ugh, what did she do?

You had to blink a couple times to allow your eyes to adjust to the new level of brightness.

“Unnie?” Your voice was still hoarse and not loud enough. “Unn-!”

Somehow, Hyonju had started unpacking today’s stock, random boxes were scattered everywhere and one of your characteristics of being clumsy clearly wasn’t helping. It didn’t hurt terribly but it sure ached when your back hit the cold marble floor.

“Oof!”

Footsteps pattered in your direction frantically, Hyonju was probably shocked as well.

“Oh my god! Y/N! I’m so sorry!”

Wait what….

Woojin?

!!!

You looked up so abruptly that you bumped your head on the shelf above. Woojin cringed in pain on your behalf. He shot you an uneasy look, smiling nervously while offering his hand for you to take. You accepted it gratefully, despite the throbbing pain at the back of your head.

“Uhh, thanks,” you muttered, suddenly fully aware of your hand in his and the close proximity between the two of you. Woojin seemed to realise it to, he dropped your hand and took a step back, the tips of his ears reddening.

“Ahh, it’s my fault anyways, I don’t know what time you usually show up and figured you wouldn’t be here for awhile so I just left the place in a mess. I’m sorry, Y/N! Forgive me! I didn’t mean it!” He blabbered but seemed sincere about his apology. Woojin hung his head, pouting. It was an adorable sight to witness and you couldn’t help but stare at him. Firstly, his hair was rather messy, hidden underneath his red baseball cap, it seemed like he too hadn’t bothered to do this hair. Secondly, despite is cheery aura, there was a sense of sleepiness and comfort that lingered around him. Thirdly, his snaggletooth was the cutest thing you had ever seen.

I think I’ve mentioned the last one before…….

Then, it dawned on you, “Wait? Why are you even here?”

Your heart starting beating at an abnormally quick rate, butterflies seem to come alive in your stomach.

Why?

“Oh! Hyonju noona had a change in her college schedule, so, we swapped shifts. The two of us now have three shifts together!” Woojin explained rather excitedly, however, you saw that he was still awkwardly playing with his hands and avoiding eye contact. You bit your tongue to stop yourself from allowing a giggle to emit from you.

“Ohh, I see. Well…uh, I’m here now. Let’s start work!” You high-fived him, he responded enthusiastically, beaming.

Oh unnie, what am I going to do now?

Silently, you thank Hyonju unnie but also dreaded working another shift with just two people. It made you more prone to messing up in front of Woojin.

Your hands brushed off imaginary dirt from your clothes, pondering.

At least this gave you a bit more time to grow closer to Park Woojin.

…

From time to time, Woojin would give you an encouraging smile, silently cheering you even though it was just your job. When there was no customers patronising the shop, he ran next door to that uber cool cafe and bought smoothies for you and him. Both smoothies were of the same flavour because, “I didn’t know your favourite so I picked my favourite but wasn’t sure if you would like that either so I asked my good friend Jinyoung who works there to recommend a flavour and he said that strawberry is nice. I’ll take you there to personally choose what flavour you want next time”. You found that gesture incredibly sweet and kind, your cheeks nearly tinged as pink as your smoothie ( which Jinyoung did a great job on ).

When Lisa and Hyonjun arrived for their shift, Woojin helped you to pack your things and even carried your tote out. He wasn’t having any of your protests.

The machine beep in a friendly manner right after you swiped your employee pass through the scanner, signalling you had clocked out for the day. You spun round, nearly knocking into Woojin’s chest. Fortunately, he reached out and grabbed your forearms, steadying you in time.

“Woah, Y/N. You’re so clumsy today,” he teased light-heartedly, sticking his tongue out you.

Even at the very front of the shop, you could here Hyonju unnie’s excited screams and shipping.

“‘C'mon, since I’m seeing your face so much, we should get to know each other. What do you want for lunch? My treat.” There wasn’t time for you to object, he had already began searching the internet for good barbecue places nearby. “I know noona told me about your secret obsession with meat one day. I’m sorry I know, Y/N. It’s okay! I like meat alot too.”

You weren’t sure if it made you feel better or worse.

“Yah! Shouldn’t you say something? It’s so unladylike!” You wailed in embarrassment, covering your face with your hands. ( rip admin L at family dinners lolololol i eat so much )

“Ah! Stop covering your pretty face…oh hey, you have really soft hands,” Woojin murmured in amusement as he ran his hands over yours, that small action shot dozens of tingles down your spine and sparks ignited all over your body. Woojin made you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

“Ugh, but why would I have to say anything about that? Girls need to eat too. Besides, I don’t care if you aren’t ladylike, as long as you’re a lady I like.”

You punched his muscular shoulder, letting out a small squeal of surprise as he laughed, which sounded like music to your ears. He was so angelic.

You knew that sad truth that it was just a joke between coworkers, almost-friends but a part deep inside of you yearned for whatever Woojin had said to be about you. He was the perfect friend and a dream boyfriend.

I wish he was into me, but he deserves so much better.

“Y/N! Hurry up! The faster we get there, the more meat we can eat!”

…

Seeing Woojin had suddenly become a frequent thing. Saturday was your off day and you always went on an evening run around the neighbourhood, making sure to be back before dark. You unexpectedly bumped into Woojin, playing basketball at the park’s basketball court. He was together with a few other boys, some you recognised as seniors and some you had never seen before. It was nice to observe their game as you stretched and cooled down somewhat. Woojin finally spotted you, he waved, “Y/N! Hello!”

Smiling, you waved back but suddenly grew aware of the multiple pairs of curious eyes staring at you. You shifted your weight from foot to foot uncomfortably, under the gaze of Woojin’s friends.

Woojin approached you. “Hi,” he said.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

Well, he’s totally not playing basketball. Well done, Y/N.

“Oh! Uh, Guanlin…yeah that really tall guy…no not Daehwi…yeah, that guy, invited us out to practice with him and i don’t know why he’s nervous about tryouts for the competition team, he’s amazing! That guy is Jinyoung, the smoothie boy and Jaewhan hyung is the one wiping Jihoon’s face,” Woojin introduced, pointing at each boy respectively. “Hey, are you busy now? If not, join us. I-I think i-it will be fun! Like…more fun if you join us rather than now because…I’m rambling now aren’t I?” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

Omg stoppp it, you have no idea how hard I have fallen for you.

“Sure! Why not? Don’t you see me too much at work though?” You joked, setting your water bottle down next to his bag.

Woojin rolled his eyes. “This is summer, I didn’t intend my holidays to revolve around work. C'mon, just catch a break, it can’t hurt. Won’t I still be seeing you tomorrow?” He slung an arm around your shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world but you could pretty much feel his nerves and awkwardness radiating off him.

You still hadn’t gotten over the fact how cute he was.

“Hey! Woojin, who’s this?” A friendly and kind looking boy asked as you approached, he smiled warmly at you. Was his name Daehwi? You supposed so.

Woojin waited till at least all of them were in earshot before speaking. “Hey guys, this is my… friend…and coworker! Uh, her name is Y/N,” he introduced hesitantly.

Various versions of ‘hello’ were chorused in response, all of them seemed welcoming.

“Oh, are you the Y/N who Woojin really can’t shut up about? He seems to really like being your friend,” Daehwi mentioned absent-mindedly, putting a finger to his lip.

There was an long pause, even the song of the crickets had become audible.

“Y/N, do you want to play with us? It’ll be exciting!” Jinyoung exclaimed, breaking the silence before bouncing the basketball a few times.

Seeing the hopeful look on Woojin’s face gave you the push to accept their offer. You smiled, nodding you head.

“Yay! Thanks Y/N!”

You felt you throat close and heart thud madly in your chest as Woojin wrapped his arm around you and pulled you closer to him. Your back leaned against his defined chest as he hugged you. Because of the sudden action, your shirt had ridden up a tiny bit so Woojin’s arm brushed against your tummy, right above your belly button.

The reaction was immediate, electricity shot through your veins, you felt icy shivers slip down your spine, leaving a weirdly pleasant feeling.

Neither of you pulled away until Jaewhan coughed and once he thought you weren’t looking, glared at Woojin, who in turn, burned bright red.

There wasn’t anyone who was cuter than him.

…

The summer was coming to a close much faster than you anticipated, it was a bittersweet moment. You weren’t sure if you could manage classes AND a job, the will to try was there but really, it was a tall order.

However, you had grown a lot closer to Woojin and even expanded your circle of friends.

Hyonju unnie was constantly cheering you on.

Meeting with Woojin to hang out became an extremely frequent affair, your parents were beginning to get suspicious but you reassured them that he was just your good friend. That was not a lie either, Woojin had become one of your best friends. There wasn’t a day that he didn’t text you to make sure you were all right.

You genuinely wanted summer to last forever, it was such a shame that it was coming to a close so quickly. So, savouring your last few shifts, you often prolonged tasks, especially if it was the shift with Woojin and Hyonju.

“Y/N!”

Woojin’s voice shook you awake, it appeared that you were dozing off at the counter again. It was already 9.45pm, The Sugar Shaker would close in 15 minutes.

Woojin rubbed your back, tracing small circles comfortingly. “Ahh, go and rest. I’ll be with you soon okay? Let me close up first,” he said.

You flopped onto the small sofa in the break room, and considered it a luxury. Grateful that Woojin pretty much left all his hoodies here, you grabbed one and snuggled into it for comfort. You heard him sigh when he saw you.

“Y/N, oh my gosh. You’re so cute. You must be tired, do you want me to call a cab? We can crash at my place,” Woojin suggested, playing with your hair.

“Come and cuddle,” you mumbled, you had no shame right now. Besides, was it not natural for friends to cuddle?

“C-c-cuddle? Me? And… Y-You?” He stammered but didn’t complain when you held out your arms, in fact, he gladly obliged.

“Woojin,” you began, pondering if you should confess your feelings for him.

Whatever, YOLO amirite? ;)

“Yeah? You okay? Are you comfortable?”

“Mhmm yes. Thanks. Uh, uh….I just wanted to say that… you’re one of my best friends…”

Ugh! What an awful start!

“Oh…thanks…” Woojin shifted in discomfort.

“But I want us to be more than that. I like you. Date me. Now or never,” Mustering up the courage, you declared bravely.

It was like Woojin could not believe what he was hearing, he took a double take, staring blankly at you. “Wha-what? Re-really? Me? Date you? What?….Yes! Of course!”

Then, he leaned in and kissed you.

Not on the lips because he closed his eyes and missed but just at the corner of your mouth, you found it the perfect 'first kiss’ spot.

Woojin’s eyes widened in horror. “I’m so sorry! I was aiming for your lips…no! I was going to kiss your cheek, not your lips! Not that I don’t want to kiss you on your lips but that-”

You cut him off with a giggle. “It’s okay, you can try again. I find your rambling adorable by the way.”

It seemed to give him a surge of confidence. Woojin smiled, he brought his lips closer to yours and cautiously pressed his to them.

You savoured every second, his lips were soft and velvety, just like you expected them to be.

When he pulled away, he pursed his lips together. “Mmhm, isn’t that the new green apple flavoured gummy?”

You blushed in embarrassment, refusing to admit you had nearly downed a whole packet of those. Of course you paid for it, with employee discount.

“Mhmm, it tastes good. Almost as sweet as you,” Woojin professed and nearly doubled over in laughter after.

The summer began with a new job, who knew it would end with a new relationship.

[funkymbtifiction]

IDK who I am?

Ok so this is kind of a whole ass mess, I started off with a question that would make it a useful read for everyone and not a waste of time, but it ended up being a bit of a personal advice question so I hope that’s ok.

What would cause unhealthiness in a type? Most of the time, i feel like i’m a healthy ENTP, but multiple arguments with my ESFJ (or ESTJ?) mom have caused me to seriously doubt myself in many ways over the years. I read that an unhealthy ENTP can be argumentative, unwilling to drop arguments, etc. These are all things my mom tells me I do, along with not taking responsibility and making excuses. I’m 18 now and we don’t argue that much but we did a lot when I was around 13-15 and kind of, ya know, going through it as teenagers do. And since my mom has basically always used these same digs at me, I’ve assumed that maybe that’s the reason that it really hurts whenever those same digs are brought up now, and basically I have a lot of self doubt and am insecure about being an immature version of my type (because that would mean that i’ve been in the wrong in so many instances in my life if everything my mom says about me is true, and i think that sentence in itself proves my mom right in that i don’t like taking accountability.) As I’m typing this, I’m wondering if maybe that fear of being an unhealthy version of my type or admitting my faults could be related to enneagram ?? Anyways, I know that nobody’s perfect and can definitely appear even worse especially in conflict, I just sometimes wonder if i’m unhealthy or a completely different type altogether. That’s another thing, I’m always trying to find an answer to things, but have a hard time settling on just one. This could be another reason for my self-doubt. I guess my question, after that exhausting story, is WHY? I go back and forth between caring or not caring about personality type, but I’m in a particular stage right now where i care and really just wanna know why i am the way i am (i’m in a bit of desperate state of mind rn lol.) I don’t know if i gave enough info for you to answer this, but what causes me to fear failure so much? Does it have to do with being raised by an ESxJ? Or is it related to enneagram? Or something else altogether? Also, am i even an entp?? you’d probably need to know more about me, but from the way I wrote this, could you give me anything? I’m asking for so much right now, I’d honestly be annoyed at me. But I’ve been so unsure about so many things lately and I just want one thing in my life I can be at least a little more sure about.

I’m sorry you are in a place of feeling like you aren’t sure who you are; if it helps, most people who embark on MBTI journeys face that, sooner or later. And it often precedes a period of self-understanding that helps you find your type, because you start focusing on how you respond to things and how you get things done, rather than what others are telling you about yourself, and linking that to specific functions.

So much hyper-focus on what your mom says about you either indicates you are a high feeler (FJ seems more reasonable than FP at this point, since it’s not about defending self from the outside world, but wondering if what others say about you is true; but if you are sure of Ne-dom, I’d look into ENFP also) or in a Fe-loop. EFJs often mistype as ETPs at first, because they don’t realize how much they lack a specific sense of self, because their entire identity is built on how others perceive, relate to, and speak to them. If this has been a persistent concern for as long as you can remember, consider EFJ (most ETPs at your age care way less what others think, and way more about how they can ‘use’ them to get what they want, since Fe is just a tool for them and not a place of ‘being’).

If you are an ENTP, you sound as if you are in a Fe-related loop, excessively ruminating on others’ external views of  you and causing you to wonder if you are really the irresponsible jerk they tell you that you are. To break this loop, you need to get back into Ti and return to building inner frameworks of logical understanding and consistency. Your natural, healthy tendency will be to notice flaws in arguments, belief systems, and logical inconsistencies, and point them out to yourself and others. You should be learning ‘how things work,’ and not worrying so much ‘how others are reacting to me.’

To gain a better understanding of oneself, you need to put your mother’s criticisms into perspective. Is she the sort of person who finds something harsh and critical to say about everyone, all the time? Or is it just you? What is the objective truth in her digs? Can you come up with specific examples of you doing the things she is accusing you of, or is it just generalization on both your part?

Immature (and at 18, you can’t be anything else, cognitively) ETPs are prone to not taking personal responsibility for themselves and making excuses about it, yes. Ti can rationalize, argue, avoid, and shift responsibility away from self (a natural behavior of unhealthy Fe) rather than simply admit, “What I did was wrong, and I’m sorry.” Arguing, for an ETP, is like breathing – they are so good at it, and so self-assured of thinking up an excuse for everything they do in order to justify their “what I want” based thinking, they forget that their “fun banter” is actually seen as “aggressive behavior” from feeling types. (Sherlock is a great example of what I am talking about.)

If you think your mom has a point, and you can come up with times when you did avoid taking personal responsibility, you have a choice – to work on next time refusing to give an excuse, humbling yourself and admitting you didn’t do what you were supposed to do, or you were selfish and ate the last bag of chips in the house, or whatever else she “gets on you” for. You can also start taking “adult initiative” and doing “mature” things around the house, to show her you are taking responsibility for your stuff, your chores, your bills, etc. The only way to convince an ESJ that you are a mature adult is to consistently act like one and show them you are being responsible with your decisions. Part of being a mature adult, regardless of type, is admitting when you are wrong and taking responsibility for the problems/pain you cause.

If she is criticizing / nitpicking needlessly, analyze her and think about her reasons why she might be doing this, or feels the need to bring others down, or is being “hard” on you in particular. There are many factors that go into people’s behaviors. Do you remind her of someone she used to know, who went the wrong way in life, and is she associating your behaviors with that person’s downward path? High Si’s are prone to instant sensory comparisons of that nature. SJs are also highly responsible people, very driven, who have a specific idea of “how the world works,” and how YOU will have to be, to succeed in it. (IE, 9/5 job, be responsible, buy car insurance, save for retirement, take care of your family, etc). This is how and why they clash with the “when I see it, I’ll know I want to do it, and do it for awhile, and then find something else to do” fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants EP types.

With parents, it’s also important to remember their bias. Their opinion of you is just their opinion. What matters more out in the world is what your boss, your coworkers, and other people who have a direct financial impact on you as an adult in the workforce think of you. Your parents have watched you grow up. Seen all the good and bad things. Things that do not matter at all in the workforce, and that nobody knows about, outside the family. Things that do not have to ‘define you’ as an adult. EJ parents can also have a lot of trouble transitioning from being “parent” to “friend” – she is used to being your “mom.” So, prove her wrong. What can you do to show her you’re an adult?

You might also be an Enneagram 9 or 6 (both, Tritype-wise, is likely) which is messing with your ability to have a concrete sense of self.

Once you’re in college, your functions will show clearer. Heavy school work / an environment where you need to please peers and teachers will bring out lower functional development.

- ENFP Mod

[twelvesignsrp]

congratulations josie, cancer is now dayton frost with the faceclaim troye sivan.

APPLICATION

Character Sign: Cancer Character name: Dayton “Day” Frost Birthday: July 10th Sexuality: gay Gender: genderfluid (tends to use he/him pronouns, is still very much genderfluid) Moon Sign: Pisces Faceclaim: TROYE SIVAN BISH Power: Drawing/sketching/painting the future. This power in particular fits Day so well, I’m cryin, this is ridiculous. There are times when it takes over and he doesn’t mean for it to, and there are times when he reaches for the power and it’s right there waiting for him. His power is unpredictable, ebbing and flowing like the tides but as randomly as his own emotions. He loses himself in it, and when he comes back out there are scenes laid out before him that sometimes happen on the news, sometimes just right beside him a few minutes later. The longer he’s under, so to speak, the bigger the event and the more exhausted he is afterwards. What do they study? Liberal Arts

Biography: (trigger warning for underage sex, rape (in the sense that day was manipulated by an older man)) When Dayton was born, his father stuck around for about .5 seconds before he took off. Dayton Richard, for whom Dayton had been named, was not much for the family life, and had never wanted to be a father. That, of course, was more than fine, because Dayton and his mother Marie got along just fine without that asshole around to ruin things. However, after all the years Dayton’s grandparents had warned his mother against marrying his father, Marie refused to tell them what had happened, how the marriage had fallen apart and how Dayton the first had simply disappeared. Dayton never knew that life though. His mother worked herself ragged trying to support them, and it was on her way from her first job to her second that she met the man who would become Dayton’s step-father.

Isidore Santiago swept Marie right off of her feet, and not once did he ever show distaste for the curly-haired boy who clung to her skirts and looked up at him shyly. Instead, Isidore showed Dayton what it was like to have a real family, what it was like to have a real father, ruffled up his hair and called him Day, and finally gave him safety and comfort. With the marriage came money, and a real home. Isidore owned his own company, and if that wasn’t the single coolest thing that Dayton had ever seen in his life, well, the sun would be rising in the west when he woke up.

Dayton adopted Isidore’s nickname with pride, and as he got older he started to go at things with a new fierceness, a new pride. He wasn’t a bastard, he had the best father in the whole damn world. Isidore made his mother happy, made him happy, and Isidore never once failed to encourage Day to follow his dreams. Day loved art just as fiercely and happily as his mother did, but she worried, pushing him towards something better, always hoping that he would be able to make his own way in the world, in the way she nearly hadn’t been able to.

Day was a constant fixture in Isidore’s company, painting what the rooms looked like as the sun dipped down and shone through the tall windows. His art was all over the place, another constant fixture. When Day was a sophomore, an old friend of Isidore’s came stepping back into his life, and Day fell in love in an instant. Rodrigo was clean-cut, handsome, younger than Isidore by a few years. He had the deepest voice Day had ever heard, and when Rodrigo looked at him, Day felt as if he could fly. He seemed particularly interested in Day’s art and his passion for it, and the pair of them could talk about it for hours. Rodrigo didn’t make Day feel like a gangly teenager who hadn’t quite bulked up from the sports he played in school. He made him feel special. Rodrigo didn’t make Day feel like he had to go out and be a doctor to prove himself.

Their first kiss was at a late night at the company, before Rodrigo was supposed to give Day a ride home. Day practically threw himself into the older man’s arms, giving away his own first kiss to the only one he’d ever wanted to have it. Surely Rodrigo was young enough that it couldn’t matter, that it shouldn’t matter. Day was mature! He was sixteen, he knew what he was doing. Their illicit relationship began, and Day had never been happier. He thought Rodrigo loved him from the way he swept him up into those intense kisses, the way he’d take him over his desk when they were supposed to be working on advertising ideas.

Day was convinced that they’d get married as soon as he turned eighteen until Rodrigo’s not-so ex-wife came back into the picture, still wearing her wedding band, asking Rodrigo when exactly he was planning on coming back home for more than a few days, saying his kids missed him. It was like the whole world had dropped out from under Day in only a few seconds, but there was nowhere he could go, nothing he could do. Rodrigo had pushed him under his desk as his secretary had announced the name, spitting and hissing out curses. Dayton had to listen as Rodrigo purred out the exact same sweet things he said in Day’s own ear to this woman, to the woman he’d cared about enough to marry, and Day thought he was going to die.

As soon as Day got home that night, he broke down sobbing in his mother’s arms, crying so hard he made himself sick. When he’d finally calmed down enough to speak, he had to tell his story to his mother and Isidore both, saying he’d thought it was love, thought that Rodrigo loved him, thought that he was special. Isidore had Rodrigo fired that same day, and Day stood by and watched as charges were filed and Rodrigo was locked away within the month.

Day threw himself back into his art proper, using it as a constant distraction. When his mother mentioned schooling, he brushed her off, his broken-heart leaving his hackles constantly up. For the first time in forever, he and his mother fought. Day refused to go to med school, and with worried eyes, his parents agreed to still pay his education for a liberal arts degree. They said they just wanted him to be happy, wanted him to never want for anything. If this was what would make him happy, then they were happy. He said yes, and now, quietly, Day regrets it.

Five interesting facts about your character:

Day feels that nothing is complete without music, and he’s constantly putting together playlists and soundtracks. He’s got hundreds of different playlists for different things.

Day would absolutely be the boyfriend to steal shirts and wear them to sleep in because they smell like his boyfriend.

Day, as a child, once laughed so hard he fell off a stool and fractured his arm.

Day keeps a small picture of his father tucked away in a small box full of pictures. They have the same eyes, and sometimes he wants to rip the picture up, throw it away, but then he’ll look at other pictures of his family and he’ll remember that his father did nothing but donate the sperm needed to make him.

Day’s mother is the one who got him into art, and they used to spend hours together painting side by side.

Character Quote: "You are so good. So good, you’re always feeling so much. And sometimes it feels like you’re gonna bust wide open from all the feeling, don’t it? People like you are the best in the world, but you sure do suffer for it.“

If your character had a patronus what would it be? and why? Okay to be totally honest I’m really, really torn between an orca or a butterfly. I know those seem kind of ridiculous and out there but they both fit so well? I think I’m leaning a bit more toward the butterfly. Day is so creative, ebbing and flowing like the tide, kind of prone to just float along sometimes without a particular destination in mind. He’s sensitive, but he’s determined, and he’ll keep on plowing on even when he’s been knocked down. He’s constantly got ideas popping up and while he may drift around, he always gets them done.

WRITING SAMPLE (set before Day leaves for school)

“Mother…”

Day worked his plush bottom lip between his blunt teeth, hand hovering at the door. It was open just a little, enough for him to see the set of his mother’s shoulders as she sat at the edge of his bed. She was shaking, and he could hear her soft sobs. Each of them sent a knife into his chest, and his own eyes filled with tears without his permission. “Mother,” he repeated, pushing the door open properly so he could cross the room to her. Marie lowered her hands to her lap as he knelt in front of her, and she tried to put on a brave face, tried to stop the flow of tears.

It unfortunately wasn’t enough, and soon the pair of them were crying together, Day’s face pressed into his mother’s stomach as they clung to each other.

Oh, how love hurt. His sobs racked his broad shoulders, and his fingers dug into Marie’s sides, trying not to let the tears overwhelm him like they had so many times in the past.

“Oh my sweet boy, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.” Her fingers dug into his shoulders in turn, cradling him close like she had so many times during his childhood. The pair of them rocked there together for an indeterminable amount of time, crying together for what had been taken from them both. They’d both been so innocent when they’d first fallen in love, Marie with Dayton’s father and Day with Rodrigo. Like mother, like son. Soft Spanish swept over the both of them, and in an instant they were both wrapped up in a hug as Isidore caught sight of the pair of them.

Their words all blurred together, mixed apologies and pleas for forgiveness in Spanish and English, Day’s voice choked with tears, Marie’s tight with pain, and Isidore’s walking the fine line between comfort and anger, but not at them, never at them.

It was a long time before Day calmed down enough to step back out of the warmth of their embrace, wiping at his wet eyes and trying to fix the mess of his hair. He was supposed to be coming in here to pack. His mismatched eyes swept around the room, and the teenager heaved a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, and when he looked back up at his parents, he pulled a tired smile onto his lips. “How about I put on some music and we act like we didn’t just cry for an hour straight?” A laugh rumbled up in Isidore’s chest, breaking some of the tension around them, and soon enough the three of them were packing Day’s things together, laughing and joking and giving Day the strength he’d need to leave it all behind.

[biofunmy]

Tales From the Teenage Cancel Culture

1.

A few weeks ago, Neelam, a high school senior, was sitting in class at her Catholic school in Chicago. After her teacher left the room, a classmate began playing “Bump N’ Grind,” an R. Kelly song.

Neelam, 17, had recently watched the documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly” with her mother. She said it had been “emotional to take in as a black woman.”

Neelam asked the boy and his cluster of friends to stop playing the track, but he shrugged off the request. “‘It’s just a song,’” she said he replied. “‘We understand he’s in jail and known for being a pedophile, but I still like his music.’”

She was appalled. They were in a class about social justice. They had spent the afternoon talking about Catholicism, the common good and morality. The song continued to play.

That classmate, who is white, had done things in the past that Neelam described as problematic, like casually using racist slurs — not name-calling — among friends. After class, she decided he was “canceled,” at least to her.

Her decision didn’t stay private; she told a friend that week that she had canceled him. She told her mother too. She said that this meant she would avoid speaking or engaging with him in the future, that she didn’t care to hear what he had to say, because he wouldn’t change his mind and was beyond reason.

“When it comes to cancel culture, it’s a way to take away someone’s power and call out the individual for being problematic in a situation,” Neelam said. “I don’t think it’s being sensitive. I think it’s just having a sense of being observant and aware of what’s going on around you.”

2.

The term “canceled” “sort of spawned from YouTube,” said Ben, a high school junior in Providence, R.I. (Because of their age and the situations involved, The New York Times has granted partial anonymity to some people. We have confirmed details with parents or schoolmates.)

He talked about the YouTuber James Charles, who was canceled by the platform’s beauty community in May after some drama with his mentor, Tati Westbrook, also a YouTuber, and a vitamin entrepreneur. That was a big cancellation, widely covered, that helped popularize the term. Teenagers often bring it up.

Ben, 17, said that people should be held accountable for their actions, whether they’re famous or not, but that canceling someone “takes away the option for them to learn from their mistakes and kind of alienates them.”

His school doesn’t have much bullying, he said, and the word carries a gentler meaning in its hallways, used in passing to tease friends. Often, the joke extends beyond people. One week, after students were debating the safety of e-cigarettes and vaping, some declared that Juul was canceled.

[Here’s what Barack Obama has to say about cancel culture.]

3.

It took some time for L to understand that she had been canceled. She was 15 and had just returned to a school she used to attend. “All the friends I had previously had through middle school completely cut me off,” she said. “Ignored me, blocked me on everything, would not look at me.”

Months went by. Toward the end of sophomore year, she reached out over Instagram to a former friend, asking why people were not talking to her. It was lunchtime; the person she asked was sitting in the cafeteria with lots of people and so they all piled on. It was like an avalanche, L said.

Within a few minutes she got a torrent of direct messages from the former friend on Instagram, relaying what they had said. One said she was a mooch. One said she was annoying and petty. One person said that she had ruined her self-esteem. Another said that L was an emotional leech who was thirsty for validation.

“This put me in a situation where I thought I had done all these things,” L said. “I was bad. I deserved what was happening.”

Two years have passed since then. “You can do something stupid when you’re 15, say one thing and 10 years later that shapes how people perceive you,” she said. “We all do cringey things and make dumb mistakes and whatever. But social media’s existence has brought that into a place where people can take something you did back then and make it who you are now.”

In her junior year, L said, things got better. Still, that rush of messages and that social isolation have left a lasting impact. “I’m very prone to questioning everything I do,” she said. “‘Is this annoying someone?’ ‘Is this upsetting someone?’”

“I have issues with trusting perfectly normal things,” she said. “That sense of me being some sort of monster, terrible person, burden to everyone, has stayed with me to some extent. There’s still this sort of lingering sense of: What if I am?”

4.

Alex is 17, and she hears the word “canceled” every day at her high school outside Atlanta. It can be a joke, but it can also suggest that an offending person won’t be tolerated again. Alex thinks of it as a permanent label. “Now they’ll forever be thought of as that action, not for the person they are,” she said.

“It’s not like you’ll sit away from them at lunch or something,” she said. “It’s just a lingering thought in the back of your mind, a negative connotation.”

During a mock trial practice a couple of weeks before a big competition, the song “Act Up” by City Girls was playing. One of Alex’s teammates, who is of Indian descent, rapped along with the lyrics, which include a racist slur.

The students, who until that point had been chatty because their teacher wasn’t in the room, went silent. “I was the only black person in the room,” Alex said.

Alex and another friend on the team explained to their teammate why he shouldn’t have used that word. “We’re a team, so we can’t have tension exist there,” she said.

He said he understood why they were uncomfortable but that it wouldn’t necessarily prevent him from using it again when singing along. He wouldn’t take it back.

“You’re canceled, sis,” her friend told the teammate. It was partially to lighten the mood, but also partly serious.

“It’s a joke, but still, we understand you have that opinion now and we’re not going to get closer,” Alex said.

Despite his initial tough stance, the teammate didn’t rap the word again, and Alex said that he had remained respectful during practice. The team took ninth and 11th place at the competition.

5.

It was orientation day for freshmen at Sarah Lawrence College, where one new student was unnerved by a social justice group’s presentation. The presenters discussed pronoun use and called on the entering freshmen to “‘battle heteronormativity and cisgender language,’” the student said.

Even if you accidentally misgendered someone, the new students were told, you needed to be either called out or called in. (“Called in” means to be gently led to understand your error; call-outs are more aggressive.) The presenters emphasized that the impact on the person who was misgendered was what mattered, regardless of the intent of the person who had misgendered them.

The freshman thought back to a time when her father had misgendered a friend of hers. Her father had asked her to apologize on his behalf. She did. “‘I only get mad when people intentionally try to misgender me because they feel like they have to correct who I am,’” she recalled her friend saying.

Sarah Lawrence has fewer than 1,500 undergraduates. One upperclassman she became friends with said that she had been canceled in her own freshman year.

But, this upperclassman said, the politics enforced through cancellation don’t always fit neatly into the social dynamics of college.

“I think where it loses me, we’re taking these systems that are applying huge abstract ideas of identity’s role and we’re shrinking it into these interpersonal, one-on-one, liberal arts things,” the upperclassman said.

Among the upperclassman’s friend group now, the idea of cancellation is “basically a joke.” Too many people had been canceled. At a recent party the upperclassman had attended, one guy said, “‘If you haven’t been canceled, you’re canceled.’”

6.

One night during Mike’s freshman year at a New York state college, he and a group of friends were headed to a party downtown. As they were waiting for their Uber, someone cracked a political joke, and then the casual conversation turned confrontational. One of Mike’s friends asked his roommate, D, if he was a Trump supporter.

D had a history of making the group uncomfortable. Mike and their mutual friend Phoebe said that he would made sexist, homophobic and racist remarks in past hangouts.

D said he did support the president — an anomaly in their liberal friend group — and “blew up” at the friend who asked the question. When the friend tried to change the subject, he became more upset. Mike stepped between the two to defuse the situation. “He got in my friend’s face, and that was the last straw,” Mike said.

He tried to cool D down; it didn’t work. D called Mike a homophobic slur, multiple times. The group split up. Mike didn’t return to his dorm that night, staying at a friend’s place instead.

“Even before this, we could tell, if I weren’t roommates with him, we wouldn’t have been friends,” Mike said. “So that was the breaking point for me, him saying that when I was sticking up for him.”

D left an apology note on Mike’s desk, which mostly tried to “justify his actions,” Mike said. “That set in my mind that he didn’t really feel bad about what he did,” he said. “He just felt bad for himself, that he would be looked at in a different light.”

A couple of days later, Phoebe, Mike and D sat down and D repeated the apology. Phoebe and Mike heard him out but said it didn’t clear him of wrongdoing and that he would have to demonstrate that he was different now. Both said that while D appeared sad about losing his friends, tearing up during their discussion, he didn’t show remorse.

Other friends didn’t accept the apology. “We wouldn’t tolerate it anymore, we cut him out of our lives,” Phoebe said.

Thus canceled, D moved from sadness to frustration and anger, Phoebe said. He grew “very bitter,” Phoebe said. She noticed that he had unfollowed and blocked the group on Snapchat and other social media a few weeks later.

“He did feel bullied by this whole canceled idea,” she said. “But in this case, no one felt bad doing it, because he didn’t really take responsibility for a lot of the things he said.”

Mike, though, still lives with D. He had signed on to live with him before the ordeal. They don’t speak. D has stopped acknowledging Mike and most everyone from their old group. “I’m definitely not living with him next year,” Mike said.

Phoebe managed to keep things civil. “Every time we see him, I still say hi,” she said. Sometimes, but not always, he nods or says hi back.

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