#doing research ahead of time is extremely important

[swagyna]

A "Quick" Guide to Independent US President Candidates of 2024

Regardless of the party you usually vote for, I encourage you to go over this list

Jill Stein, Green Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia

A Jewish Doctor, she's been running in different campaigns for 21 years. This will be her third time running for presidency; her announcement was in direct response to President Biden's lack of action in regards to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Her main concerns are to reinvigorate our lacking Green New Deal, for the right of a living wage in a revised Economic Bills of Rights, an end to discrimination of women, BIPOC, and LGBT+ members; the removal of US influence in wars across the globe, as well as an end to our politicians being bought out by lobbyists.

Dr. Stein learned of the impacts of environmental pollution first hand while she was a practicing physician; her patients' were suffering from the nicknamed "Filthy Five" coal plants in her area. This spurred her into activism, which did eventually lead to the removal of these coal plants. While involved in this activism, she heard how many people had been demanding the removal of the plants for years. Local politicians refused to heed the people's words. Stein eventually learned it was due to lobbying, and helped to pass the Clean Elections Law. This law would only last for 5 years before Democrats removed it. A/N: Dr. Stein has only declared her running just this month on Nov. 9th. This may explain her lacking platform.

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Chase Oliver, Libertarian Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia You could describe him as sort of an "average Joe". Before entering politics, he worked restaurant jobs for 13 years. He's previously ran for Georgia's 5th district for House in 2020, as well as running for Senator in 2022 of the same state. He got enough support during his run for Senate that it caused a runoff election. His campaign is addressing many different problems, from positive immigration reform to being prochoice. Here's the list and a brief summary of what his plans are:

○ Healthcare system overhaul, swap to Direct Primary Care ○ Addressing Student Loans, making current loans interest free, ending FAFSA entirely, using Department of Defense money to pay for interest fees lost by this move. Also addressing high tuition costs. ○ Education, removal of the Department of Education to allocate money directly back to the states. ○ Allowing free market on Marijuana, signing full pardons for anyone with a non-violent drug-only criminal charge. ○ Changes to the Justice System, from courts to prisons to cops, removal of immunity from those in power, removal of mandatory minimum sentences, removal of prosecution of victimless crimes. ○ Work Changes, adjustments to taxes to make it easier on lower-income families, as well as law adjustments for people looking to open their own businesses. ○ Immigration reform, simplification for immigrants to become citizens to allow them to work and better integrate into our society. ○ Government invasion of Privacy, the potential repeal of the Patriot Act as well as any other invasive laws the government has passed in the guise of "safety". ○ The rights of bodily autonomy and Abortion, which should be codified. The exception here is that tax money cannot be used for it.

○ Ending the Death Penalty ○ Reducing Inflation by reducing government spending [a/n: this is not what causes inflation] ○ Removal of any Gun Restrictions and will strike down any new one that come up in the future What spurred him into activism roughly 2 decades ago, was President Bush's war campaign in Iraq. In 2008, he initially supported President Obama but later left the Democratic Party as he found that their policies were not anti-war and had no intention of becoming anti-war. He's spoken against regulations that prevent that feeding of the homeless and hungry in the City of Columbia [agenda], and has also made a public comment to the Atlanta City Council against Cop city (time stamp is 2:17:00).

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Independent Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia

An avid environmentalist lawyer who has won exceptional lawsuits for Indigenous People. This will be the first time RFK Jr. has officially ran for an election. In prior years, he's considered running for a Senator seat, NY's Attorney General seat, and has previously declined NY's Senate seat.

RFK Jr.'s campaign also has quite an extensive list of problems to address: ○ Housing Crisis and Cost: raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, changing zoning laws, changing taxes, opening ownership to local abandoned housing/buildings ○ Environment: restoring USDA and EPA control, incentivize companies to go green on a global scale, change agricultural practices ○ Ending of Lobbying: prosecution of officials and politicians who have been bought out by corporations, restoration of individual privacy, full government transparency. ○ Ending Party Division: RFK Jr. acknowledges that the Left vs Right is not helpful to the average person and seeks to remedy this divide by listening and compromising. ○ War: the removal of our troops and bases from countries in which we do not belong. The stop of unnecessary and profligate spending in our military machine. ○ Southern Border: Tighten control on checkpoints, restore lighting and motion detectors, but also allocate money into our courts to move asylum cases thru faster. This ties back with his stance on war, however; he wants the removal of our forces and weapons from the hands of the cartel. The US needs to stop funding the displacement of civilians in their own nations. ○ Restoration of Rights: Write into law that tech companies cannot ban, shadowban, or suppress someone if the government asks them to. Removal of government surveillance. ○ Civil Rights: to do this, a complete overhaul of these systems will happen - community repair, prison/police reform, focus on the working class and disenfranchised schooling, find addiction care that is long term, expanded youth programs, and free IDs for US citizens. ○ Native Americans: the restoration of land, the complete adherence to previous treaties that have been written and ignored by the US. ○ Veterans: optimization of the VA, creating a federal Veteran's council, to provide ways veterans can still "serve" in their communities. ○ Student Loans: the repeal of Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act which will allow people to file bankruptcy on student loans, allow people to refinance their student loans, remove interest on student loans, to hold universities accountable and not banks for loan defaults to prevent the rising prices of tuition.

Some things to note; Robert is a member of Children's Health Defense, which is an anti-vax organization that claims vaccines cause autism. Robert doesn't believe that HIV causes AIDS which he writes about in his book The Real Anthony Fauci (pg numbers: 298, 332, 347, 348, 351).

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Cornel West, Independent Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia

Another Doctor on the list, Cornel is a philosophy professor at Union Theological Seminary. In his practice, he focuses on how American society treats differences between gender, race, and class. This is his first time running for office, and had previously been with the People's Party which he dropped for the Green Party. In October '23, he left the Green Party to be Independent. Here is a list of what Dr. West is looking to address during his presidency: ○ Environmentalism: Canceling any and all national oil projects, codifying informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous people and their land, end water privatization by making a clean water committee ○ Racial Justice: Reparations for black residents, following thru on the Civil Liberties Act of '88, public review commissions for all police stations, creating a committee dedicated to finding missing and murdered Indigenous women ○ Prison/Police Reform: End the death penalty, abolish current privatized prison practices, shutting down Cop City, end and ban police training thru military forces ○ Voters' Rights: Election day is to be a national holiday to ensure everyone can vote, term limits for all elected officials, ban on past elected officials from becoming lobbyists, term limits for SCOTUS members ○ Gun Control: Create national gun registry, reduce gun sales at shows, similar requirements for driver licenses to gun ownership ○ Economics: Tax billionaires, remove tax loopholes for the super rich, end Wall Street housing market holdings, ban stock trading for elected gov. officials, national minimum wage of $27/hr, create UBI commission ○ Workers' Rights: Four day work week, review US trade agreements and ban any that exploit domestic and international workers, free pre-K childcare, all for-profit companies must allow the creation of unions ○ Healthcare: Free healthcare, codify abortions, address addiction and help those affected by it, create federal panel to oversee the creation/safety/effectiveness of vaccines, focus on giving more power back to disabled people ○ Education: Redistribute tax money equally across all public schools based on student count (this way rural students still receive the same schooling as urban students), minimum wage of 80k for K-12 teachers, abolish state laws that obfuscate our US history, cancel student debt ○ LGBTQIA+: establish standards for trans healthcare, end assaults on trans people, ban on state anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, codify equal rights for LGBTQIA+ people ○ Global Influence: Removal of military support in all current wars, establish Truth Commission for the global south, disband NATO, cut the military budget, end global patriarchy and help women in Iran and Afghanistan, cancel IMF debts

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A note to end on: Firstly, I will not be discussing who I will be voting for on this post. Secondly, I want to add that just because a candidate has a large list of issues they're addressing doesn't mean they will actually get it done while in office. We regularly see candidates come in with large promises only to "forget" about them once they reach office.

Remember: the presidential election is important, but getting out and voting during midterms is infinitely much more impactful because those are our lawmakers!! A president cannot change anything if there is no house or senate backing her/him!

[moony-2001]

The real-world impact of Lore Olympus

i.e. do your research Rachel

Trigger warning: racism, fetishization, appropriation, mentions of SA

Long post ahead

A while ago, someone told me that Lore Olympus was just a silly little comic written out of boredom. That it was made to be "funny". They told me that "[I] can't hope [for] an extremely [well-written] story when it was just made with the intention to make something goofy" and that if Rachel actually wanted to make something serious like I had, she would write a book and not a comic.

At the time of this exchange, it was past 1 a.m. and I was exhausted. I did not want to argue with this person and it simply wasn't worth my time or energy in the moment.

But looking back at that (mostly one-sided) interaction, I can't help but think that there is so much wrong with that point of view. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion about Lore Olympus, whether good or bad. But Lore Olympus isn't just some silly little nothing comic about nothing important. It is a comic that actively appropriates and erases Greek Culture. It is a comic that has no respect for the actual stories that have been passed down over thousands of years whether by word of mouth or written text. It is a comic that perpetuates a false narrative and harmful stereotypes about characters or certain groups of people. So, no, it's not just a silly little comic.

Incorrect information

Here’s an example of what I mean:

When I was doing research for my post about the 10 year time skip, I looked up Leuce to reconfirm the little information I knew about her. Wanna guess the first thing that popped up about her?

A Lore Olympus Wiki article.

Okay. How about Minthe? Hundreds of pictures of her from Lore Olympus and a LO Wiki article as one of the top 3 results. Both character are horribly represented in LO and unfortunately there isn’t really any documented stories or records that can refute how LO paints them. Because of this, other characters in Greek Mythology like Leuce and Minthe, whose stories have little to no documentation, stand to suffer the most harm from deliberate misrepresentation on Rachel’s part.

Of course well-known and better documented figures in Greek mythology face slander as well. What about Thetis or Leto? How about Apollo? All of their portrayals in LO are HORRIBLE. I have seen people online absolutely drag them to filth not because they're upset about how the character is portrayed compared to their mythological counterpart, but because they have no knowledge of how they are actually portrayed outside of LO. They just assume that's how the characters are. Similarly, people who have either very little or no prior knowledge of Greek Mythology and Culture would look at the comic and go "Yep, sounds legit. It must be true." and go about thinking that what is portrayed in LO is accurate to what was transcribed thousands of years ago.

Creative interpretations and racism/fetishization within LO

Don’t get me wrong. Creative interpretations and artistic liberties can be great. When they’re done tastefully. I personally think if done correctly, a Greek myth spun in a modern way has the potential be very good. But that's not what we were given.

Characters like Minthe, Leuce, and Thetis (all nymphs btw) are portrayed as trashy tramps who put out and are used as a foil sabotage Persephone and/or her relationship with Hades. Compare that to Greek Mythology where in the Iliad, Thetis is very well-respected by the gods, particularly Hera. Unfortunately, other similar characters like satrys (and basically any character that isn’t a god) are usually portrayed as a low-class POC that can be easily exploited, manipulated, or used as a temporary villain/lover/pawn to “get back” at Persephone, our white-coded protagonist who can do no wrong.

Additionally, there is a clear race/class bias against characters like nymphs in LO. We see many cases scattered throughout the comic of gods like Hera or Aphrodite referring to nymphs as "trash" or "low class" or the idea that nymphs do not belong with gods being heavily implied if not outright said. I cannot tell you how often I've seen Minthe be called some variant of "cheap" by the readers of LO. Even Persephone (who created the flower nymphs) treats them with such disrespect. She frequently calls them some variant of "stupid" or "simple" like saying how they're not the sharpest crayons in the box even though she's the one WHO MADE THEM. However, it's so odd not really to note that nymphs like Echo, Amphitrite, or Psyche (who was previously disguised as a nymph) are not discriminated against. This is because they are liked or trusted by the gods they are around and ergo are often portrayed as the "good ones", which is a disgusting mindset to have.

We also see the fetishization of nymphs in the comic that is disturbingly similar to the fetishization of women who are Black, Asian, or Latina. It is a known fact that Hades has a flower nymph fetish. Not only is this implied in the comic, but Rachel stated it outright in an old Patreon post. Nymphs are also generally treated as sex-symbols, disposable, and as a lesser-than. Zeus frequently displays this behavior by abandoning nymphs he knocked up in the mortal realm.

For example, when Persephone finds out Apollo is dating Daphne, she isn't upset he's dating her friend. She's upset he's dating a flower nymph, beings that are generally considered to be "rare", "dumb", and objects of sexual desire. Ew.

Even on the Lore Olympus website (loreolympians.com) nymphs are regarded as "beautiful", "desirable", and "very exotic". And when they're not described in a sexual manner they're say it with me now regarded as "low class" or "workers" for some kind of god/goddess.

Final thoughts

So not only is the characterization of characters like Minthe or Thetis harmful to Greek culture and the stories that are so ingrained in their society, but it is also perpetuating harmful stereotypes about people of color and women who are confident in their sexuality.

Of course, the characters within Greek Mythology had their own issues. Zeus was a serial rapist, many of the goddesses deemed to be "feminist" by today's standards were actually horribly misogynistic looking at you Athena. But 1. that's just how things were back then (but that does not make it right) and 2. all of the good, the bad, and the ugly is still there in Greek Mythology. They're not denying how fucked up it is, but they're also not changing their history to better fit their own narrative or the narrative of the modern world. It exists, it happened, but now it is studied and called out by historians.

Rachel, on the other hand, is doing exactly that. She is actively changing the Greek's cultural history to better fit her fic's narrative. She is constantly sweeping things under the rug or going "No this is how it ACTUALLY happened". Lore Olympus is marketed as a "feminist retelling" yet somehow, it takes allllll the ugly parts from Greek Mythology (rape, incest, problematic age gaps, dubious consent, etc.), mixes it with a majority of the issues we have in the modern world (white feminism, rape-apologists/rape culture, grooming, fetishization of certain minority groups, etc.) and then amplifies the concoction to 20. Lore Olympus cannot be a "progressive, feminist, retelling" and also have characters that are morally apprehensive/come straight from the ancient myths. It does not work. In fact, IMO it makes all the problems from both eras worse.

News flash: actual cultures that are still thriving today are not your toys. They are not "made up". They matter. Do better.

[2soulscollide]

tips to level up your writing skills

1. read, read, read

okay, I know, everyone keeps saying it... but it's true, and I truly believe the more you read, the better you write, because you come across different writing styles, different voices, new characters, and worlds. This applies to every writer, from amateur to professional.

2. practice makes perfect

another cliché, right.

but hear me out: I feel so much more confident about my writing skills when I write daily, rather than when I write a bit occasionally. you get lots of work done, see your book coming to life, and get better at it.

3. create an outline before you start writing

guysss, I know many people like to go with the flow, but I would recommend planning your novel before writing it, especially if it is one of your first projects.

when I started, I refused to plot my novel because I thought it was a waste of time, and I couldn't plan it all ahead. turns out that I could never finish my novels, because I started to get lost in the plot. as most of you may know, I LOVEEE to plot now!

4. use active voice instead of passive voice

passive voice is alright sometimes. I like to use it, too. but to create an immersive experience for the reader, you should go for the active voice since it creates more impact.

see something like this:

"the letter was written by Marcus who had tears in his eyes." VS "Marcus wrote the letter with tears in his eyes."

such a basic example (don't judge me!!)... but can you notice the difference? it seems so much more expressive.

5. avoid using overly complex language

repeat it after me: short. sentences. are. valid.

don't overcomplicate it! I know it's tempting to write huge sentences sometimes and make your book seem more complex and professional, but sometimes it just doesn't come out as expected, and we end up exhausting our readers.

6. don't just for yourself

this can be a polemic topic. it's quite common to see people saying you should write for yourself, but let's be honest here: if you're trying to get your book published, you should have your target public in mind while developing your book. knowing your audience to know what works and what doesn't work is extremely important. but hey, you must also enjoy what you're writing!

7. use dialogue!!!

I find dialogue so important, and I love it so much! ensure you develop a distinctive voice for your characters to make them seem real to the reader. also, if possible, read the dialogue out loud and imagine if it would work out in real life.

8. don't be afraid to use metaphors

metaphors will turn a "basic" work into something more sophisticated when applied in the right places. you might want to avoid overusing it because it can ruin the experience, but it's something up to you, and what feels better to you.

9. research your topic before writing

okay, this is pretty self-explanatory. if you're writing about a topic or a location you don't know much about, avoid making assumptions or clichés. instead, do some research, take notes, or even ask chatgpt questions to help you.

10. don't be afraid to experiment and try new things

I was a fanfiction writer for a long time and was so scared to try original fiction because it seemed so much different from what I was accustomed to doing. however, once I decided to try something new, I discovered I liked to do it more than fanfiction. you'll never know until you try it!

11. never give up on your writing, keep practicing and learning to improve your skills

it takes time to acquire new skills, so if you're new to writing, please don't give up! It's fun and a long path, and I promise you'll love it, even more, the more you write!

I hope this was helpful! <3 have a nice day

also, i just released a new freebie!!! it's a free workbook for writers with over 90 pages to guide you through the process of plotting a novel. you might be interested in checking it out!! :D click here

[heartsforkento]

you do not have to push anything away + school or work and shifting + shifting challenge/exercise

(3-in-1 post let's go)

rin is back again.

long post ahead !!

section one: you do not have to push anything away

section two: school/work and shifting

section three: the shifting/loa exercise

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"run away to the other side of the world"

"

ONE

this is a continuation of my previous post, stating that you do not have to do so much to shift, because shifting simply is easy.

but first, let me relate this topic to my life. i remember first learning about shifting. it was in the middle of exam season. i would spend nearly my whole day just researching and researching about shifting and then, i would not do my work at all lol. in my past self's mind, shifting was this big deal and it was my priority and i'm supposed to spend time learning more and more about it because that is the only way i'll shift.

bitch no??

see, it's okay to treat shifting like a priority, because it may be. but, did i really have to push everything away, just to shift? no ! not at all.

i remember just completely ignoring my work, my family and friends because i had to "disconnect from my CR" to reach my DR. and there was no need for this because i eventually shifted with the LOA haha.

see, i'm not saying that obsessing over shifting won't make you shift or that you'll have to do your schoolwork to shift. no no no !!

all i'm saying is it's not necessary to spend long hours researching about the best shifting method or whatever, because there is none. they're all equally good lol.

there is no need to push anything away just to shift.

you don't have to spend too much time researching nor you do have to "make time" for it. you do not have to push away your work or anything just for shifting.

it's like having a true best friend. your bff is not going to leave you just because you don't text them every hour of the day. your bff is not going to tell you to drop all your other best friends just to be with them. no. because they are an ordinary human like everyone else. i hope you're getting the analogy.

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"to fill my heart to the top"

TWO

now, what do you do if you have school and cannot spend time doing methods because you have to wake up early or you just have so much to do during the day that you just do not have time?

i'm exactly like this and that is why i will always stand by the law of assumption.

but first, it's important to understand that having so much work doesn't disable you from shifting. do not feel sorry that you weren't able to do methods or listen to your subliminals. it's okay.

i have an extremely busy schedule haha. yet i still shifted amidst the chaos.

who said you can't shift in such situations?

i know how discouraging school can be, and it can affect one's mindset, and that may affect what you feel about yourself and shifting. it is okay to feel that way.

now, what if i told you that when applying the Law, you are not obligated to think about shifting 24/7. with this, we'll be moving on to the final part of this post.

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"like you're short of breath,"

THREE

i was scrolling through reddit when i came across this post: here !! it seemed like a really good method to shift using intention and hence, i've added it to this shifting exercise so credits to them for the idea !!

anyway, let's get into it.

what i want you to do is first set up some basic rules. i believe this will make you more confident !! you can just say them once in your head. here are mine:

i am in control of my reality

i only associate with my positive thoughts

negative thoughts and doubts have no control over me

intrusive/impulsive thoughts have no control over me

my manifestations are quick

then, we will start by applying the LOA, if you want you can refer to my other post about it.

what we'll do next is do SATS once, and know and accept that your desire is already yours. you don't have to do it again if you don't want to. but if you do want to, then go ahead.

then, we state that every time we blink, we affirm that we are in our DR. or you could pick a certain word, like maybe 'lilac' and attach a meaning to it, like "i am in my DR", and then go on repeating it in your head.

if thoughts of your DR or shifting arises, you can affirm or do SATS once. this also goes for opposing thoughts, you flip them around. you don't have to keep thinking about shifting too much. it's already been taken care of right?

then go about your day as normal, do what you have to do knowing it has already happened. have fun and take care of yourself, knowing that your subconscious has your back.

thank you for reading, my loves !!

"you give me purpose."

until next time,

rin.

[dr-spectre]

RANT POST ABOUT CALLIE AHEAD!!!

I need to get some old and built up feelings out of my chest before i explode into a trillion pieces, if you do not wish to see a LONG rambling about me getting mad and rageful about this important character to me then by all means skip over and have a good rest of your day or night!

If you can handle me getting a bit pissed off and mean then keep on reading!!

This will also be a VERY LONG POST!!! Because I have a lot to rant about. Some of it i have talked about before many times but i need to talk about them... Again..

So anyways. If you wanna move on, that's okay, if you wanna stick around? That's all good as well!!! I highly HIGHLY encourage you to read all that I have to say. Okay? Thank you!

You know, as someone who has put in a lot of time and research into Hypno Callie and the others. What I've come to notice in media is that people tend to use the words mind control, brainwashing, hypnosis, influence, indoctrination, corruption, all interchangeably despite each word having vastly different meanings and connotations and effects.

Brainwashing has been used as an incorrect word to describe a lot of these kinds of plots in TV, movies, games, etc. and it really bugs me personally. Like, if you see something as clearly hypnosis, they explain that it is hypnosis and there is a hypnotic element at play here, you cannot just slap the word brainwashing onto it. It's like if I called a mango an apple you know? Or if I showed you a squid and you called it an octopus and you were REALLY adamant that it's an octopus.

Another example, if there's mind controlled zombies that are being controlled by aliens or something, slapping the word hypnotised or brainwashing onto that scenario is stupid because they clearly explained it in the story with evidence that it's straight up direct mind control and nothing else.

This doesn't just to apply to Splatoon btw, this annoyance goes for every other time a "mind control" plot has occurred in fiction.

I don't wanna sound rude here, I really don't! But guys, do you realise that we have this cool thing all across the world called a language? And languages have words in them!!!! And words have meanings in them that are brains understand and interpret!?

If I say the word "fluffy" what do you think of? "Fluff, fur, cute, huggable, adorable." You think of cute fluffy things, yeah?

If I say the word "hypnosis" what do you think of? A trance like state, a weird altered state of consciousness, maybe even a weird sleep/flow state?

If I say the word "brainwashed" what do you think of? Cults, militarily, experiments, evil, etc.

You guys see why I take issue? You guys see why I am extremely picky and laser focused on people's word choices when it comes to Callie and what happened? You guys see why I get really angry when people who do fuck tons of research into the events of Splatoon forget that languages exist and fail to see things past a fucking Wikipedia article?!? Is it seriously THAT hard for some people to say hypnotised?

I don't even necessarily blame most people for the words that they use, they don't know any better! And you know what? That's okay! I don't wanna get mad at SOME people since that word has been used incorrectly in media for a long ass time. And you wanna know another reason why i don't blame the casual fan or someone not in the know that much too? Because even the SPLATOON DEVELOPERS use brainwashing to describe Callie which is just... from my research and posts, incorrect.

I have yet to find a single person who can confidently explain to me that Callie was actually brainwashed and provide evidence to me to prove their points. Cause all I see is people just saying that "oh, a wiki and an artbook said so, so it must be true." Instead of looking at the actual game and looking at Hypno Callie's personality, behaviour, actions, etc. and comparing them to regular Callie.

Why do you think 99% of people call her Hypno Callie? Like there's a reason as to why her name is that in most circles... Have you ever talked to someone who calls her brainwashed Callie? Probably not...

God... I'm really sorry if i come off as some gatekeeping fan or elitist snob or some shit. I'm not trying to be and i don't wanna be like that. I wanna educate people, make people think of a different perspective and make people think a little more you know?

I'm just getting tired of it all... It affects how I see Hypno Callie and the events of Splatoon 2. I can't enjoy it when some people throw out these certain words, and it makes me feel so sad and terrible. And not in an engaging way, just a sadness that fucking stings my chest and I'm SO SICK OF IT!!!!!

I just despise this notion in the Splatoon community, Inkipedia, YouTube videos, social media and official sources that Callie was kidnapped out of the blue when she was alone and Octavio forced the shades onto her, brainwashing her and removing her memories. I hate it so much. It's something that truly fills me with great sadness and pain and pure anger. Callie is a comfort character of mine and to hear that scenario for her in official canon is just... no. I can't accept it. I refuse to accept such a vile and awful thing. It makes the Octarians more evil and way less sympathetic that way too, it makes DJ Octavio's eventual redemption make less sense because in one game he's this fucking monster and the next he's like "Hey guys imma help you out!" It makes his character incredibly inconsistent at that point.

it makes his appearance with Cuttlefish at the Grand Fest feel less satisfying because there this huge black spot on his character from Splatoon 2 where he apparently did something truly evil and unredeemable. Why would Cuttlefish be okay with standing next to a man who """kidnapped and brainwashed"""" his grand daughter?! I don't care about their history together, if i was Cuttlefish and I heard about that kind of event for my grand daughter, I WOULD NEVER FORGIVE OCTAVIO!!!

Hypnosis by nature is less evil and has more nuance and agency for Callie and the Octarians. Sure it's still fucking bad but not as extreme and dark as brainwashing is. The two terms are so vastly different and using either word willy-nilly is extremely annoying and frustrating to me.

Hypnosis ≠ brainwashing and you cannot prove to me otherwise. You literally cannot mind control someone with hypnosis, that's not how it works. They are so opposite of each other it's actually insane. I DON'T GET WHY PEOPLE USE THEM INTERCHANGEABLY ALL THE FUCKING TIME?!?! WHY?!?!!? Is it a lack of knowledge?!? Lack of caring?! Is it because of how hypnosis is portrayed?!?!

And the whole "Callie was kidnapped/abducted." My god... Do people understand what words are coming out of their fucking mouths?

Callie was more than willing to join the Octarians and she said to them "okay fine I'll hear you out." That is not KIDNAPPING!!!!!!!!!! THAT STATEMENT MADE BY CALLIE GOES AGAINST THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD!!!!

I don't know why they say this in some official sources either, i don't know why Inkipedia lists it on their pages. i don't know why fans keep wanting to push this idea that Callie was kidnapped, is it because an artbook said so and nothing in the game? I don't know why timeline explainers and people who do a fuck ton of research into Splatoon push it too. If Callie was kidnapped you figure she would mention it. But she doesn't!!!! Marie does and says she was brainwashed in the North American (NoA) localization, but of course she would think that and from her perspective she would figure that is the case from her limited knowledge of what happened to Callie.

God I just.... I hate it when people say Callie was brainwashed. I fucking despise it. It makes me so violently angry and upset and EVERYONE WHO HAS A LOUD VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY SAYS IT!!!

This doesn't even impact just Callie. It impacts the entirety of the Octarians as a species and DJ Octavio too. I LIKE DJ OCTAVIO!! I THINK HE WAS FUNNY IN SPLATOON 1! I like his role in Splatoon 3 and how he redeems himself and how he appeared in the Grand Festival with Cuttlefish. It ties back to before the Great Turf War when the Inklings and Octarians were on good terms and now finally that peace is back....

But this enjoyment... this appreciation of his character growth gets ruined because of the shit Nintendo did and what the fanbase did when Splatoon 2 rolled around... I can't enjoy Octavio as a character anymore because of the notion that Callie was brainwashed by him.

I can't look at his inkipedia page because IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH THEY SAY HE BRAINWASHED HER!!!!

And don't you EVEN MENTION the line "I remixed Callie's brain!" My brother in Christ, that is not only a call back to a line he said in the final boss of Splatoon 1, but it's also because DJ Octavio is a.. idk... DJ!!!! A DISC JOCKEY!!!! In the NoA version of Splatoon, Octavio's personality is very loud and in your face, compared to his more sinister and intense personality in the European and original Japanese versions. This serious personality was only given to Octavio finally in the NOA version of Splatoon 3 ROTM where his personality actually matches his Japanese and European versions from Splatoon 1 and 2.

Octavio says puns and musical terms to describe shit in the NoA versions of Splatoon 1 and 2. Remixing by definition is taking a song and altering it to make something new. What is Hypno Callie? A REMIX OF CALLIE!!!! It's Callie but she's more aggressive, emotional and impulsive. And you know where we've seen this remix of Callie before? IN SPLATOON 1!!!! IN THE SPLATFEST DIALOGUE!!!!

Octavio didn't literally mean that he "remixed her brain." via actual brain, washing. He just means that he gave Callie a new twist, and Callie in her hypnotic state was like "okay fine I'll hear you out."

Octavio hypnotising Callie who wanted to help the Octarians anyways out of her own free will, planting suggestions into her head that SHE HERSELF ACCEPTED AS DURING HYPNOSIS, SUGGESTIONS GIVEN CANNOT GO AGAINST THE PERSON'S MORALS AND IDEOLOGIES!!! So that Callie would be more likely to stay in Octo Canyon and not decide to suddenly run off as Callie was under a lot of mental distress and emotion from her busy and lonely life, and allowing Callie to put her influence onto Octo Canyon to help his people and boost motivation, fits more in line with Splatoon as a series and Octavio as a character than the whole "he brainwashed Callie" bullshit that has plagued the internet for 7 years and continuing. Why do you think Callie is so chill to see DJ Octavio come back in Splatoon 3 huh? Why do you think she misses shaven Octarians in ROTM? Why do you think she calls Octarians cute? Hmm... I WONDER WHY?!?!?!

Is Octavio still bad? Yes! Did he use Callie to benefit his people? YES!!!! Was Octavio being manipulative and selfish? FUCK YES!!! HE'S THE ANTAGONIST!!!! I AM NOT RESOLVING THAT MAN OF BLAME!!!! DONT GET MY WORDS TWISTED!!! HE'S STILL BAD! just not unredeemable... because once you say he brainwashed someone and forcefully removed Callie's memories like a pure evil monster, then you have a character who is pretty much unredeemable at that point. You have made him cross a line that he can't turn back from. You implanted these disgusting and disturbingly sexual suggestions about Octavio and Callie and her outfit. Why the FUCK do you want that? Why?! Why do you wanna even suggest the idea that Callie was forced to wear skimpy clothing against her consent and knowledge? Do you know how fucking DISGUSTING AND EVIL THAT IS?!?!?! FOR A SERIES SUCH AS SPLATOON?!?!?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO FUCKING IMPLY HERE?!?!?!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?! GOD!!!! WHY DO YOU WANT THESE AWFUL THINGS DONE TO CALLIE AGAINST HER KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT IN THE MAIN TIMELINE!!??!?!?!?!! For AUs I get it, it's your right as a fan to make fanfiction and explore darker topics. I personally won't read it but I won't EVER stop someone from making a darker AU. It has its place in the community and I 100% respect it with all of my heart. I truly respect those who make dark AUs and darker takes on Splatoon because I'm sure it's fun and interesting for some people. To each their own! I actually like hearing my friends talk about Fuzzy AUs and stuff like that, given the time and place, darker toned AUs are something that i find really interesting but I'm not super duper in love with them.

But don't you DARE put these disgusting and sexual undertones about Callie and the Octarians in the main canon. Fuck off. Don't you even try and suggest that the Octarians are this purely evil race that forced Callie into a revealing outfit while she was completely unaware and it was against her consent. And that they just grabbed her... god... Jesus Christ man. Fuck. I hate thinking about that so much dude.

This type of scenario that people push did NOT happen.

THIS DID!

I'm so angry. I'm so sorry for this giant humongous rant. I care a lot about Callie. I only want the best for her. I only want a more engaging and more in-depth take on Splatoon 2. I want to enjoy Tidal Rush, I want to enjoy Spicy Calamari Inkantation, I want to enjoy Fresh Start, I want to enjoy the Bomb Rush Blush remix like how i enjoy Unconscience by Marina Agitando. I want to enjoy Hypno Callie in general, BUT SOMETIMES I JUST CANT AND I GET SO SAD AND MY CHEST HURTS!!!! This has been going on FOR SOOO LONGGG!!

I keep making all these posts about Callie because I still see that kind of bullshit being thrown around. Imagine having a perspective on a character you really love and you try and hold on to it. But everyone else around is pushing that perspective down and you feel so sad and stupid and ridiculous... And so your only option left is to scream and bark and yell....

I am literally gonna keep ranting until I can see the word "brainwashed" in media without having a fucking heart attack. I wanna just be able to enjoy Callie's arc and see it for what it truly is...

A story about two cousins drifting apart... Callie becoming so popular and famous... and lonely... that she became so mentally distraught and overthought everything. She did something incredibly irrational. She went to Octavio and the Octarians. Octavio knows that Callie can be a huge help to him after his loss and so he enlisted her help. And she just said, "okay, fine."

She was given hypnotic shades by Octavio in order to keep her more under control as she was ridden with mental illness and could leave Octo Canyon at any point with her overthinking. But he did NOT put her under total control and brainwash her, he needed Callie's influence for the Octarians, to decorate bases and add her touch into their music. The Octarians became happy and more motivated then ever. He didn't need a drone to help him. He needed, CALLIE.

However... Callie, in the canyon, lost herself, she gave into bitterness, hatred, sadness, anger... She knows who she is, but her memory is so cloudy and muffled by emotion and the shades... She needs help... Proper. Help. You can hear it in the songs found within the Octo Canyon, her reversed vocals sound so sad and deeply emotional...

When Marie arrives, Callie is mad at her, she wants nothing to do with her. But when Marie shoots the shades off of her, Callie is still dazed, upset, emotional, sick, she dances and continues to sing back against Marie's desperate words and pleas... Marie only wants to repair their broken relationship and lend out a hand to her cousin who needs to see the light....

But, when that heavenly melody echoed in that stadium, it was like a rushing tide of memories and feelings flooded into Callie. All of her and Marie's time performing, hosting news, celebrating Splatfests, and arriving to Inkopolis for the first time, came back to her and dispelled the darkness in her heart.

Callie heard the melody and went "wait... This isn't me! What am i doing!? YEAH! I REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And well... The rest is history, the pair healed their relationship over the course of a few years and are stronger than ever.

They fulfilled their fresh start, they helped redeem an angry vengeful man from the past, they inspired the present with Off the Hook, and they planted the seeds for the future in Deep Cut.

and they won the Grand Festival... TOGETHER!

Well... At least that's MY interpretation on things ;). And i want my interpretation to be held strong in my head... I'm tired of getting chest pains man... I'm tired of feeling this sadness and pain... I'm tired of going on Inkipedia and seeing that FUCKING word. I'm tired of being scared to watch YouTube videos focusing on lore and the story of Splatoon because deep down i KNOW they will say that word that has such fucking horrible connotations and meaning behind it...

Anyways. I think I'm done. I think I'm just in a huge ranting mode and I had to get it out, my autism was really acting up and i wanted to vomit this stuff out of me. I hope you guys feel what I'm feeling and if you have a character who you feel similar towards, let me know! Let the anger out. Okay?

Have a Callie for sticking around and actually reading. You're amazing.

[theliteraryarchitect]

Hi! I wanted to say, I read that you are a professional editor, and think it's amazing! You also give very logical and well explained advice. I was wondering; would you say being an editor is a job you can support yourself with? I actually aspire to become one someday, but I'm not exactly sure if it's a good plan.

Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a good day/night

Hey there. Great question. It's totally possible to support yourself as an editor. I've done it, and so have other editors I know. However there are a few important things to consider before choosing editing as a career path.

Your chances of being a self-employed freelancer are extremely high. The number of in-house editing jobs in publishing are low and getting lower. While being self employed can give you a certain amount of flexibility, it also comes along with a lot of hustle and hassle, namely fluctuating income, a stupid amount of confusing tax paperwork, and the need to constantly promote yourself to clients in order to maintain steady work.

You probably won't make as much money as you'd think. Editing is one of the many skilled jobs that suffers from market saturation, which has sadly driven down the price the average client is willing to pay for editing services. I can't tell you the number of overqualified editors I know charging barely more than minimum wage for their work. Personally I've stuck to my guns about charging what I'm worth, but I've sometimes suffered by not having as much work as my colleagues who charge less.

Robots have already chipped away at the future of editing as a human occupation, and will continue to do so at exponential speed in the years ahead. They will never obliterate the job completely, as there will always be humans who prefer to work with humans instead of machines. But the outlook will become ever bleaker as more humans compete for fewer gigs, which in turn will drive down prices even further.

If you are also a writer, editing may adversely affect your writing. I don't mean that you'll become a worse writer, quite the opposite. My editing work has brought new depths to my writing, and I'm grateful for all I've learned by working with my clients. However, editing takes time, uses creative energy, and requires staring at a screen (or paper), and personally the more I edit, the less time/creativity/screen-staring capabilities I have left for my own writing.

If you mention you're an editor, someone will troll your post for a typo, grammatical error, or misused word, and then triumphantly point it out to you in the comments. This is mostly a joke. But it does happen every single time.

I hope this hasn't been too discouraging. If you feel a true passion for editing and really enjoy the work, none of the above should dissuade you. However, if you think you might be happy in any number of occupations, I'd honestly advise you to explore other options. Choosing a career path at this point in history is a gamble no matter what, but the outlook for editors is especially grim.

If you'd like to work with writers and aren't attached to being an editor, there are a few jobs (still freelance) that I believe will survive the coming robot apocalypse. Do a little Google research about "book coaches," "writing coaches," or "book doulas." These are people who act primarily as emotional supporters and logistical helpers for writers who are trying to get their book published or self published. Some of them do actual editing, but many do not, and due to the therapeutic nature of their work I believe they will flourish longer than editors in the coming robot apocalypse.

If you do explore editing as a path, the further away you can lean from spelling and grammar (e.g. proofreader or copyeditor), the longer your skills will be useful when competing with robots. AI still struggles to offer the same kind of nuanced, story-level feedback that a human can give. (Speaking from experience here--I'm a developmental editor and have yet to see a dent in my workload because of robots.) They'll catch up eventually, but it could be a while, and as long as there are human readers, there will always be humans who are willing to pay for a human perspective on their writing. Human spell checkers maybe not so much.

Hope this helps!

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Dr James Barry

Part 2! Here we go. James Barry was the first European doctor to successfully perform a C section where both the mother and child survived, which is cool to me because I was born via C section. He was born in 1789, but lied that he was younger on documents in order to pass - people described him as young looking and soft featured with a boyish voice, but never questioned in his gender. Despite adamantly stating he was a man for his whole adult life and only being revealed as transgender after death, he is still referred to as a “a woman ahead of her time” in the Guardian in 2016 and argued to have only presented as a man to enter the male-dominated medical field. In his wikipedia page, he is only referred to by his last name, not he/him pronouns. This is another example of the transmasculine erasure done by cis feminist historians that I mentioned in my last post in this series. Instead of doing this, cis feminists, here is what you can do: accept and include transmasculine experiences as a part of feminist narratives, not in contradiction to them, and if you can’t do that, at least actually do some research on the women who were practicing medicine at the time, and acknowledge their accomplishments instead of stealing and erasing transmasculine history! To all students of history, and especially anyone who cares about queer/trans history: stop erasing trans men (and all trans and nonbinary people) and explaining us away. Come face to face with our existence. Can you do that?

Alright.

Barry was a British imperial surgeon. When he was 19, he expressed longing to be a soldier, and he later joined the British army. Eeh, I know. His official title quickly ascended to Colonel Medical Inspector. If it wasn’t for his privilege, his gender transgression would likely have not been so easily forgiven and explained away through infantilization and feminist narratives during and after his life. However, he still faced great challenges.

In his profession, he was unlike others because he spent time around and advocated for the most marginalized in society - prisoners, mentally ill, lepers, poor people, and enslaved people. He did this even though it made him vulnerable and eccentric to those around him. His bluntness and need to make change made him extremely challenged and unpopular among his fellow officers, and he survived on his professionalism and bravado alone, enduring an accusation of “conduct unbecoming of the character of an Officer and a Gentleman” for a clash with another surgeon, of which he was acquitted thereafter. He also got into a pistol duel and won against Captain Josias Cloete of the 21st Light Dragoons. Generally, he was described as both rude and unafraid to speak his mind, as well as sometimes overly polite, with a good bedside manner. People were confused by him because he didn’t fit into society, and they constantly speculated on his life and tried to diminish him and the advocacy that he did.

He was first appointed to his position and was able to keep it despite challenges to his authority because of his “close friendship” with the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset (we all know what close friendship means when historians say it). In 1824, he was slandered, put on trial, and investigated when someone said that they “detected Lord Charles buggering Dr Barry.” James Barry is an important historical example of transhomophobia. Unlike what TEHMs and their ilk believe, queer trans men in fact have been experiencing homophobia all this time. James Barry experienced the same homophobia as a cis gay man would at the time, with the additional pressure of being a trans man who had to pass as a cis man to live as himself: transhomophobia. As a queer trans man, thinking about what he must have gone through makes my stomach hurt.

In 1857, he was appointed to be the Inspector of Hospitals in Canada, and he made significant improvements to sanitation and care for prisoners and lepers during his short time in that position. He was forcibly resigned against his will after only two years, because of his supposed poor health.

Before he died of dysentery in 1865, he asked for his person to not be examined at all. His wishes were disobeyed. He was outed as trans and subsequently, his life was either erased or stolen from him and written as that of a woman. To avoid a scandal, all army records of him were locked for 100 years, until in 1958, a biography of him was written by a cis woman historian, who wrote about him as a woman pretending to be a man and erased his transness. Barry’s own doctor said after his death that “it was none of my business whether Dr. Barry was a male or a female” and suggested that he might have been intersex.

Interestingly, he was also known for an incident in which he scolded Florence Nightingale for poor sanitary practices, which she complained about after he died, saying he was “the most hardened creature I had ever met.”

[peripaltepsy]

BEWARE OF "body mod advices" - they can be dangerous and LETHAL.

(this post was about a deactivated blog but extends to any possible future blog like it)

edit3 since he deactivated: Red told me in the DMs that he WILL be more careful about all this risk stuff, I believe he is going to do better. Im sure he's a good person and he also was extremely civil in the DMs. Since he's not here to defend himself anymore I'll gladly take his side and say that despite this mess, all Red wanted to do was indeed reduce harm and potentially save lives. Good luck on all your endeavors, Red, I wish you a beautiful and successful career and that you have a great positive impact in the atypical dysphoria community, both on and offline. I don't know how my post truly impacted you, I'm so sorry if you're feeling bad. You acted the best way you possibly could.

Second, if Red comes back, DO NOT HARASS HIM, let him be himself and don't let his past hold them down.

Third, all my points still stand for their deactivated blog and any potential body mod tips blogs in the future. Please everyone, take care, stay safe.

Past edit: DONT HARASS any possible blogs like hers, just REPORT and spread awareness, (also don't make the same mistakes as me: TALK TO THEM FIRST)

Past edit: minors please interact with this post, forget my bio for this one

Past edit: editing editing the post since I talked to Red and he isn't bait. I definitely should have talked to them in DMs first. I sincerely apologize. So sorry Red! To those reading, don't make the same mistake as me, ok? Always talk to people privately first, I genuinely fucked up bad. This mistake of assuming others intentions, can traumatize them. If I were in Red's shoes I'd be traumatized. So yeah, I fucked up bad.

Their intentions are genuine but my point still stands that its extremely dangerous and can't qualify as harm-reduction / end edit note

alright, I'm not transid/radqueer but you guys need to REPORT AND WARN OTHERS of these accounts as soon as they appear. Do not entertain them, no matter how desperate you are to transition. You can become a victim of dangerous charlatanism.

LONG POST AHEAD, VERY IMPORTANT NEVERTHELESS

Archive to what i'm about to post

Red claimed to be "a non-professional surgeon, planning on getting better with practice." Bad move!

Red has told me he's pursuing a medical degree and won't actually do non-qualified surgery.

.

Red: "The blog is centered around an idea of "extreme" body mods that I would like to explore further, [...] things like breaking and re-mending bones, creating new joints, replacing skin, etc."

My point: the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and your blog was unsafe.

.

To any possible counterarguments: "But they (people following/asking advice) know the risks!" That's victim-blaming. Red gave himself the responsibility to give harm-reducing advice, but he didn't do a good job.

"But I know the risks!" You can't possibly know the risks because Red doesn't know either or "kinda knows" but has not properly informed his audience, it didnt give sources, oversimplified their advice and failed to provide accurate information about risk. Or gave plain misinformation.

Again I'm not transid, I can't possibly imagine what you're going through in order to try anything at all to feel better, including trying experimental surgery not legally available or not researched at all. However, please please please do not become a victim of medical deceit or whatever tf it's called. Even if the blog owner tries their best to be reliable.

They might sound confident, but they do not know what they are saying, what they're telling others to do.

.

Ask: "How would I make my skin gray without tattoos?" (DO NOT SHAME THIS USER BTW)

Red: "[...] I assume you want permanent grey. To do this, it's pretty simple, although it'll take a lot of time. Basically, what you want to do is to constantly be exposed to lots of silver. Any product with silver in it like specific lotions and skin creams. also fish, milk, mushrooms, and whole grains tend to have silver in them! So tldr, consume lots of silver!"

STOP!!! DONT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE!!! DONT OVER-EXPOSE YOURSELF TO SILVER!!! "Silver toxicity causes argyria. Silver toxicity occurs when too much silver is in your body." <- from a simple research on "too much silver in blood"

THE RESULT WILL BE ARGYRIA. EVEN IF YOU DO IT SLOWLY, YOU ARE BUILDING UP A HEAVY METAL IN YOUR BODY. THE GREY SKIN IS NOT PRETTY NOR WITHOUT GRUESOME SIDE SYMPTOMS.

Yall. Anything in excess will fuck up your body, including iron, vitamins, and silver.

To whoever asked Red, I don't know your mind, but I'm sure you'd love to live a happy life with grey skin! You'd love to have a body you're comfortable with and looks rad as hell! But you wouldn't be able to enjoy it if you're deeply sick with ARGYRIA, WHICH IS WHAT RED'S ADVICE WILL GIVE YOU!

.

Ask: "How do I get darker skin without going too dark? I’m pale and burn easily, I just want a color similar to Lin Manuel Miranda" (AGAIN DONT HARASS THIS USER)

Red: [...] "expose yourself to the sun more! As you do this, you'll get tan which will protect you from future burns and make your skin slightly darker, do this enough and you can engineer your skin to be as dark as you want!"

THATS MISINFORMATION! Yes you may tan to get darker (Lin's tone may or may not be achievable to you) but one: it's not permanent unless you're constantly going out; two: SKIN CANCER!!!! DONT OVER-EXPOSE YOURSELF TO THE SUN!!!! USE SUNSCREEN!!

TO ANYONE SEEKING A MUCH DARKER TONE: YOU CAN'T "GO AS DARK AS YOU WANT TO" BY TANNING. Just look at people who have lived their whole lives outdoors like farmers! White people can't tan to black! There's a limit to how tan you may get! Are you seriously gonna risk skin cancer for an impossible thing???

.

Red: "Self amputation is really dangerous! You should learn how to use a tourniquet, that way, you can stop the bleeding! [...]" WHERE ARE YOU GETTING YOUR SOURCES, RED?

If anyone reading this is seriously thinking of amputating themselves, and will not change their minds no matter what, please just have someone immediately drive you to the hospital. I do not support such operation and you can still die or get horribly sick even with your best precautions, but you better receive actual medical attention and stay alive rather than trying to heal it yourself. Because what you'll most likely get from following Red's advice is DEATH FROM BLOOD LOSS. Again, if you absolutely cannot get rid of this dysphoria with therapy, or manage it at least, or have a doctor do it for you, I still would NEVER suggest you do it yourself, but IF you end up doing that then at least please go straight to the hospital instead of trying to heal it yourself.

.

Red: "do not try and break your own bones to make modifications! [...] Get another person (Like myself) to help you with the bone breakage instead."

NO ONE KNOWS WTF THEY'RE DOING. YOUR FRIEND DOESN'T. RED DOESN'T (as they advertised in the post). NO ONE IS GOING TO GET MODIFICATIONS LIKE THIS. NO ONE IS GOING TO BE HAPPY. EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE EITHER IN PAIN, RISK OF HORRIBLE INJURIES OR TROUBLE WITH THE LAW. FUCKING AROUND = GUARANTEED BOTCHED OPERATION.

Also, now that Red has clarified she won't perform surgery until having an actual degree, you can't really go to her XD

.

Red: "Some advice for surgery [...] This one's important, make sure your patient is strapped down and properly sedated, if they move, even slightly, you risk hitting a vital artery or organ, if you do hit an artery, don't panic, this is why you learned how to use a tourniquet! if you hit a vital organ though, odds are you won't know how to fix that, so be extra careful with abdomen and face surgery!"

Thats still promoting medical malpractice, mutilating and potentially killing friends, dangerously downplaying surgery so much, this is not harm-reduction

.

Ask: "I want to be blind in one eye, but more-so in the sense of extreme but not total vision loss. I want to do something permanent in the future!" (AGAIN DONT HARASS THIS USER)

Red: Well, a simple fix to your problem is just get some calcium hydroxide in your eye and wash it out a few minutes later, this should lead to permanent, extreme (but not total) vision loss in that eye. Keep it in too long and it can cause total vision loss so be careful!

Ok so, it's great that you're trying to come up with alternative ways for users not to kill themselves by gouging their eyes out, but you've still failed to give them the full picture

From a quick search "calcium hydroxide in the eyes": Exposure to the skin can produce burns, painful irritation and necrosis, and exposure to the eyes may cause severe pain and vision loss that can be temporary or permanent. If calcium hydroxide is exposed to the skin, contaminated clothing should be removed, excess amounts of the chemical should be wiped off and the affected skin should be flushed repeatedly with water. Victims of calcium hydroxide exposure to the eyes should flush their eyes with water continuously for the first 15 minutes, but all cases of external exposure should receive immediate medical care. Inhaling calcium hydroxide through the nose or mouth can also cause immediate, painful and potentially life-threatening complications. Throat and nasal passages may become painful and swollen, and the swelling may restrict airways, making breathing difficult or impossible. If the calcium hydroxide particles are carried all the way to the lungs, this may further complicate breathing. Victims of this type of exposure should be taken immediately to a fresh air environment, and emergency services should be contacted right away. Administration of oxygen and emergency respiratory assistance may be required.

.

Red (answering an ask): "the question shouldn't be what DO people replace their skin with, it should be what CAN they, after all, just because it's never been practiced or very rarely practiced doesn't mean it's bad or impossible! Of course, my personal favorite skin substitutes are rubber and red velvet, I am also a big fan of stainless steel."

(Don't promote such an operation). THIS OPERATION IS BAD AND IMPOSSIBLE TO SUCCEED. SKIN CAN ONLY BE REPLACED WITH SKIN. SKIN IS A LIVING ORGAN. ANY OTHER SUBSTITUTE WILL CAUSE YOU TO LOSE BODY PARTS OR DIE.

YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE WITH TRANSPLANTS NEED LIFE-LONG MEDICAL ATTENTION SO THEIR BODY DOESN'T REJECT IT? HOW TF WILL YOU DO THIS WITH FUCKING RED VELVET?

YOU WILL FUCK UP YOUR BODY'S IMMUNE SYSTEM A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS.

ANYWAYS. CROSSTAGGING FOR REACH. PLEASE EVERYONE REBLOG. THIS IS SERIOUS SHIT.

[ribb0ngirl]

𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔𝚑𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒 ʚɞ ⁺˖

my tips for healthy weightloss ♡

𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑝 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠

♡ eat healthier instead! Meal prep for the week, it saves time and it won't be as tempting to go for something unhealthy when you planned ahead. Make sure your meals are filled with fiber (helps with gut health) and protein (boosts metabolism), they also keep you full.

𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡

♡ when I say this I mean a healthy calorie deficit (not those crazy 200cal diets), on average, cutting 500cals from your normal amount can help you get started on a good, consistent weight loss plan. But honestly just use a free app to help you track your calorie intake. Don't obsess with calorie counting though, you don't have to do strictly those cals, nothing more nothing less, like you can go a little over your limit sometimes I promise it won't be the end of the world.

𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠

♡ drinking one glass of water 30 minutes before a meal to help digestion. but don't drink too soon before or after a meal cause the water will dilute the digestive juices. Also drink water an hour after the meal to allow the body to absorb the nutrients!!

𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘

♡ studies have shown that having a regular walking program can help you melt away some extra weight. Just 2 1/2 hours of walking a week (about 20 minutes a day) can shrink your belly by about 2.5cm in 4 weeks !! Also walking is fun, just put on your fav playlist, bring water and have a hot girl walk!! Before driving or anything think "Could I walk there?". Walking can also reduce stress, help ward off symptoms of depression and helps you be more positive! If you have strict parents that don't let you walk alone (like myself) go to the gym and get on the tredmill or walk around the house or backyard.

𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠

♡ pilates is so good and effective, a study in 2017 showed that practicing Pilates for two months not only was effective for weight loss, it also reduced BMI and toned waist, abdomen, and hip areas. If you're like me and can't afford or don't have time to go to classes literally just search "pilates workout" on youtube and you'll get a ton of them!! pair this with a daily hot girl walk and your pretty much set

𝑓𝑖𝑥 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑠𝑐𝚑𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒

♡ getting quality sleep is super important for a healthy weight loss plan and also for your mental health in general. Research has shown that losing sleep while dieting can reduce the amount of weight lost and encourage overeating. Try to get around 7–9 hours of sleep per night.

𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡𝚑𝑖𝑛𝑔!!

♡ listen, I get it, I've been there done that, you wanna see results quick and are sick of feeling bad, but babe, when you workout and diet to an extreme level, your body can go out of balance. This can literally slow down your weight loss process, so you're doing the reverse of what you wanted, also it's totally exhausting and so not worth it. Please have patience with your body.

𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎 𝚑𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑘 !! 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘 ♡

[xinnabon]

—Vulnerability.

#Kaveh x gn!reader

Summary; You work in a prestigious, private institute with Kaveh that focuses on Mathematical and Scientific research. You, as the best researcher in the Science and Technology department have been offered to present your proposal to the head of the institute. Kaveh, in the Mathematical and Analytical Data department, was rejected. He later then confronts you in your office after your presentation.

#rivals to lovers , #modern au

A/N; Accepting requests! (no nsfw.)

“5 minutes. That’s all.”

The door was practically still swung open after Kaveh looked so triumphed over how your proposal was made excruciatingly and impressively well. Enough to convince your lead directors that you deserve a higher promotion by introducing your topic to the board. Serving the institute for years with determination and a performance that can make your colleagues– hell, even your bosses envy you. You have that effect and advantage over people.

Kaveh on the other hand was just as efficient as you. You’ve come across him during one of the events that was held a few years ago when you were still new. A partnered collaboration between two people from two different departments of the institute. You’ve observed that Kaveh was too overly impetuous when it comes to decision-making and disorganized. He has been in the institute for more than you have, which he is practically a level ahead of you but, he has seen you. He thinks that you are someone that is extremely qualified to be here.

You finished with the presentation a few hours ago. Kaveh knew about your promotion to abroad with an elite, leading position. He knows that you’re not entirely someone considered to be average. You’re too ambitious. That is what Kaveh incredibly envies you about. Your performance, status and competency– Everything about you makes him so… irritated.

“I’ve heard about your promotion.”

“I didn’t take it.”

He just stood there. Maybe Kaveh was wrong about you being too overloaded with your ambitions. But knowing that you still rejected the offer anyway, made him even more furious with you. It was a one in a million time offer, after all.

“Unbelievable.” He looked away in disbelief, clenching his fists down out of irritation. He knows you want something extremely important that can change your life. Something to gain. What could you possibly want?

As much as you two hate arguing with each other, you two did get close. Close yet felt like there was always a need to compete with each other. It didn’t feel right. None of it felt necessary, did it?

Deep down, you do want to take up the opportunity– but thinking about being separated by someone who cares about you wasn’t something you felt was… right. You felt supported. At the end of the day, you’d go home to an empty apartment, work and go back to bed after. A sickening everyday routine you had to spend with until he came. Your colleagues and your coworkers weren't necessary to spend your time with because you knew they couldn’t understand you. 

He can see you. You can see him, too.

As you stood up, “I don’t want to leave. I want to stay.” Kaveh slowly sat down on the chair in front of your desk in a weakening manner. You start walking towards Kaveh– thinking about everything you’ve sacrificed to stay where you are now and by being with him. 

“Boundless opportunities await me, I know. I’m fine where I am. Thank you, Kaveh.”

“For what?”

“For… pestering me.”

…

“You’re… so infuriating.”

A warm and soft feeling reassuring you. Pulling you in closer to him. God, it didn’t matter if it was someone you passionately hated, it didn’t matter if he was someone you competed with, it didn’t matter what it would do to you. Is this the feeling of vulnerability? Weakness? Kaveh didn’t exactly know why you didn’t accept but, deep down… he’s relieved to know that.

“...You do know that they are going to promote me to your level of department, right?”

You two giggled.

[chaosclimber]

Health Care Professional

“Auntie Death?”

“Yes, Orphy?”

He suppressed a wince at the childish nickname. It had never suited him, even when he was young. But now he was thirteen, growing up quickly (quicker than Robyn, even!), and it suited him even less. It wasn’t, however, irritating enough that he was going to let it get in the way of what he wanted to talk about. It was an important question, really. One he was giving a lot of thought to, recently. “...Why did you get into medicine?”

She paused, staring at him as if trying to figure him out. He dropped his own gaze to the floor, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he felt the weight of her gaze. “I wanted to help people. I was always good at science. It made sense for me.” She took a breath, smile fading from her face a bit. “I don’t believe it would make sense for you, though, Orpheus.”

“Why not? I’m very good at science, and I want to help people.” There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He could see where she might be going with her objections. And it made him angrier than he ever remembered feeling. Who was she to say what his limitations were? Who was she to say an entire field was out of his reach simply because he was different?

“I’m not saying you wouldn’t be capable of it, Orpheus.” She furrowed her brow, reaching out and taking his hand, squeezing it. He wanted to jerk it away, but that wasn’t nice. “But you would be miserable the entire time. Hospitals are not a sensory friendly workplace, and the whole time you do actually have to take your patient's emotional needs into account—above and beyond your own.” 

“...Well…there are other jobs in the medical field. Not everything is directly patient care–I can do research! Or work in the labs!” He knew she was looking out for him, but dammit he wanted to fight it. 

“The sensory issues would still be a factor, but yeah. That would be more do-able for you. Still–you’re young. Give it time, and keep looking. You might find something that fits you so much better. Besides, last I heard you were one for the arts.” 

“Really, Auntie? Everyone knows that getting into the arts is more about who you know than what you can do.”

“...And you’re already well placed for that. Your father didn’t get you just anyone for your vocal instructor. Or dance teacher. Or acting coach.” She pointed out, a bit more of her usual cheer showing through. “The real networking doesn’t start ‘til college, but you’re already ahead of most hopefuls, Orpheus.”

“...I guess I’m just frustrated with my instrument at the moment. I really wasn’t expecting to settle much lower than tenor, but it’s looking more and more like I might get Father’s voice.” He frowned as he pointed that out. It really was frustrating him–he straight up had to give up doing the school play this year because he couldn’t reliably sing in either extreme of his range. And he wasn’t about to be boring. That, above all, would be intolerable. 

“I get that.” She smiled lightly. “C’mon. You’re still a kid, let’s go do something stupid. Like get ice cream for dinner.”

“....Ah, yes, you are, indeed, the consummate health care professional.”

“...And you’re no fun. Just like your dad~” She grinned and ruffled his hair. 

@domaystic

crossposted on AO3

[tonberry-yoda]

I have an idea! I have really bad food issues and a lot of times eating at certain restaurants makes me sick, so there's like a 60% chance I'll be throwing up in a restaurant every time. So how about headcannons or maybe a short drabble for different bnha characters who knew their boyfriend had food issues but didn't realize how bad it was until they went to check on him?

Some of the character I really want are iida, hizashi, Aizawa, Monoma, and Shoji. If you want to add more or don't want to do any of these go ahead and change up the list ^^

Iida, Present Mic, Aizawa, Monoma, and Shoji with a reader who has some food issues

notes - HI! Sorry this took some time but I was finally able to get to it! I already let you know how I changed it up a bit, so I hope you don't mind that they decide to cook for the reader instead!!! I hope you have a super day and stay super hydrated! <3

Iida

this man would make sure you are fed the way you need to be

if he were to ever take you on a date, he would ask exactly what you would want to eat at a restaurant and research until he finds the perfect one

usually though, he prefers to cook for you

at first, you were a little nervous to tell him about the situation and kind of just avoided eating when he would take you out to somewhere to eat

but being the loving bf he is, he asked exactly what was going on and you were honest, as you could trust him

from then on, he kept record of your favorite foods and made sure that what he was making you was exactly what you enjoyed!

he wants you to stay healthy and happy and will do anything to make that happen <3

Present Mic

im sorry but this man cannot cook for the life of him

i mean he definitely tried to learn once he heard about your problem

know that he's trying <3

but at the end of the day, he will have you pick the place that you go eat or will eat what you cook if that's what you like to do!

but I think he stresses that he's going to be doing the wrong thing if he takes you out, just assure him that he's doing alright <3

he just loves you so much and wants to make you happy and make sure you're healthy, so he'll do anything for you <3

Aizawa

MAMMA AIZAWA TIME

this man will take care of you TO THE EXTREME

he will learn to cook anything for you and even bake if you have a sweet tooth

i feel like he had to cook for himself at a very young age and I see him as a pretty picky eater, so he can definitely help make you something that will help you out

he doesnt often take you out to eat just because that isn't super his jam

he made a love language out of cooking for you and just loves to see the smile on your face after you eat something

Monoma

he will treat you like the most important thing in his life

so yes

that means with food too

he definitely had to learn how to cook or get some friends to help, but know that he's putting in the effort

he feels like that isn't his best way of showing you his love since he's still trying, but know he will put in the effort!!!!!

teach him if you can because he is willing to learn, even if he is embarrassed that he has to ask for help lol

Shoji

a man of many talents

i feel like this man can cook like no other

so if you tell him what you love, expect it to be there for you as a breakfast in bed, or a surprise lunch <3

he wants to make sure you are well fed especially with your problem and he will do anything to make sure that is done

he will try new things or even ask you to teach him what you like to eat

he just cares about you a lot and knows how important food is, so he will do anything <3

~~~~~

mha masterlist (2) | pinned post

2023@tonberry-yoda– do not repost or claim ANY of my work as your own! likes, reblogs, and comments are not only welcome, but appreciated

~~~~~

[butch-reidentified]

ima go ahead n answer both these at once if that's good w yall.

here's the referenced post for anyone who missed it.

I've posted a LOT about adoption before. feel free to search #adoption, #ethical adoption, #adoptee or #adopted, etc in my tags for those posts. if you can't find them bc Tumblr is shit at searching lmk and I will try to dig em up. I have a Google doc of organized/categorized Tumblr links because of the search function being such a joke

anyway that said. what I meant is that it is sooo obvious to most adoptees from a young age that it's a consumer industry and we are a product for sale. most of us who always knew we were adopted have that horrifying realization very very young, far too young to know how to deal with it. yes I am glad when other people figure this out too but it's a bit irritating for non adoptees to act like this is some mystical wisdom they alone could've uncovered when it's part of the trauma inherent to adoption to realize you were purchased 🤷

I'm not against adoption like some adoptees are, but I could write ESSAYS on my criticisms of the industry and how it SHOULD work. in fact, I have written essay length posts about it in the tags listed above. but ultimately nobody gives a fuck & NOBODY of any political orientation wants to hear that adoption perhaps isn't the utterly selfless flawless silver bullet solution to unwanted kids that everyone treats it as. yet statistically we KNOW most adoptees are extremely damaged by it, the research is there but nobody talks about it. nobody likes you if you talk about it. the walls go up real quick.

one of my favorite things is how adoption seems to be the ONE area that absolutely nobody respects lived material experience about. even loads of leftists/radfems who are always going on and on about the importance of listening to people's real, lived experiences will aggressively talk over us adoptees if we dare have the audacity to critique adoption/the adoption industry or acknowledge that it's fuckin traumatic even for an infant being yanked away from the only stimuli you knew for 9 months and put somewhere where you can't recognize yourself in anyone or anything for the next 18+ years. and that's best case scenario! scenario where they don't abuse you or spend your childhood guilt tripping you because they oh so selflessly took you in when nobody wanted you and now look how difficult you are, crying all the time n shit... just as 1 common experience I know many share from my own life and talking to other adoptees.

but nearly every time we try to talk about this, even if it has nothing to do with criticizing the adoption industry and we are JUST tryna get painful shit off our chest, some non adoptee or 8 is/are gonna jump down our throat (and often even say all the same shit our parents guilted us with as kids lmao)

it's also 1000% a feminist issue bc SO many mothers are forced into adopting out a kid they wanna keep, or adoption being available is used to justify forcing women to give birth instead of aborting an unwanted pregnancy when those women would otherwise choose the latter. not to mention the designer baby shit & the preference for white male babies... and the fact that it's human beings being literally sold as a good. Just because it's legal and isn't outright sex slavery or "forced labor" (tho adopted kids are so often viciously abused and often in those exact ways) doesn't make it right to buy or sell a human being, doesn't make it not human trafficking. & I say this as an adoptee who was ALSO trafficked as a teenager.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Ellis Twilight Chapters 16-20 Summaries 🗡

Fan translation only. Not 100% accurate. Please expect grammatical errors. This is an extremely pared down SUMMARY of each chapter. Cybird owns everything. Feel free to re-blog, but please do NOT post my translations elsewhere. The summaries will be uploaded in groups.

Chapter 16

Jude and Kate are in the library when she asks Jude why Ellis’ obsesses over someone else’s happiness with total disregard for his own. Jude tells her that it’s 100% to kill you at your happiest moment, and he calls Kate crazy basically for being involved with Ellis. Kate has flashbacks to all the times Ellis might have killed her, the night at the theater, the picnic, the hill top, and she wonders if she had nodded yes, would he have actually killed her? Jude says Ellis has his own conditions for killing and calls him a nut job. She asks Jude how he became that way, and he asks her why she wants to know that? Does she think she can change him? It's not so much that, but because she wants to help Ellis to be happy. Jude says if she wants to meddle then go ahead he doesn’t care if she dies or not.

Still, he asks if it makes her feel better knowing that if Ellis does kill her, he will kill Ellis and sell his corpse? She says it doesn’t make her feel better, but she’s convinced he’d do it. He waves her away as she’s about to walk out the door he tells her a certain pervert who studies curses may have the answers she seeks. Kate visits Roger and asks what he knows about Ellis, he tells her she’ll have to ask him the why, but he can tell her that he grew up in a small rural town up north. His father is a teacher at a church and Ellis had a twin brother. He explains that Ellis' brother was in an accident when he was 10 years old and then died two years later.

Flash back to the scene in town when she asked Ellis if someone he knew was injured and used a wheelchair (this is the scene where Ellis does dark). Roger says the year his brother died, a boy disappeared from the town where the deceased boy lived. Kate remembers Ellis telling her that before he met Jude he was living place to place, so maybe he was the child who disappeared. That’s all the information Roger could collect from newspaper articles, and when he asked Ellis about it himself, Ellis just said that it would make Roger sad and he wouldn't say anymore about it. Roger says that a curse-user is born with the curse dormant inside of them, but it seems to take a certain event to awaken their ability of that curse, and calls this awakening a tragic fork in the road. Kate asks if Ellis past events are his trigger point, but Roger says he’s only saying “maybe”.

Ellis’ parents are still alive, so he and Kate decide to visit them to learn more about it, and Roger tells Kate to bring Jude along. The next day Ellis finds Alfons in the dining room waiting for him with a note saying Roger is borrowing Kate and Jude for a few days, and Jude tells him to keep working. Ellis asks if Kate is staying overnight with them, and Alfons says for her to be with a cold blooded maniac and a brute is scary for one’s chastity….(?).Ellis is upset when Alfons says it has to do with important research and when he sees Ellis upset, he asks if he and Kate had a fight. Ellis said nope and smiles half heartedly.

Meanwhile, William approaches Victor that some of the thugs rounded up by Jude and Ellis were released on bond by someone on the Privy Council who is trying to disband Crown, and they may end up retaliating against Ellis and Jude..... The trio reaches the town Ellis grew up in and Roger is shocked Jude actually went along, asking if it’s because of Kate’s influence or if he’s curious about Ellis past? It’s neither, as she promised to work for him three days and nights once they get back to the castle.

Roger tells Kate she can’t just enter into a contract with this guy causing Jude to get angry and bring up the fact that he remembers the time when Roger gave him drugs that made him vomit. Roger tells him that was years ago and calls him a vindictive bastard. Kate thinks to herself that both of them are alike and Jude says that she looks like she’s thinking rude things. They ask what she’s thinking and she dodged the question by saying oh there’s the church. Jude waits outside and Kate and Roger meet Ellis father.

Chapter 17

At the church Roger and Kate interview Ellis’ father, Matthew Twilight. Before answering their questions, he asks why they want to know more about his sons. Roger tells him because they know Ellis and want to help him with his disease. Matthew asks what kind of disease Roger means, and Roger says that he also has the same disease. It’s one that makes them predisposed to intentionally sin. Kate is shocked (so was I), that Roger is mentioning this much to Matthew, can he even mention that?

She realizes that Roger will go against Crown, and the Queen if it means furthering his research. Matthew tells him that one day Ellis took his brother out for a stroll in the wheelchair that Ellis had painstakingly made for his invalid brother, and then stabbed him with a fruit knife. When they returned Matthew saw that Ellis’ brother’s arm’s were folded across his chest as if he were lying in a coffin, so Matthew asked Ellis if he killed his brother and Ellis laughed and said yes. His dad thought the devil was inside of him because what child could kill their own brother and laugh about it?

Soon after Ellis disappeared and he regrets his actions to this day because he never bothered to ask Ellis why, all he was worried about was dragging him to the church for confession. He’s never told anyone this story not even the police, and he is relieved to know Ellis is alive in London. Kate is happy that at least they were able to bring him some comfort by their coming to visit him. Telling them all that he knows, Kate thanks him and then they leave.

They meet up with Jude outside and Roger asks if he’s really not curious about Ellis past? Jude says he could careless about Ellis’ past or his curse as there is nothing he can do about his crazy head. Jude asks if they got the information they needed, and Kate says not quite and Jude is perturbed that they basically wasted time on the trip, so they head back to the Castle. When they arrive they are greeted by Liam and Harrison who ask questions about Kate’s willingness to go with those two, with Roger denying that he touched her. Kate looks around but doesn’t see Ellis, and Liam says he’s been working from early in the morning until well past midnight each night without eating proper meals.

Chapter 18

After Kate finds out that Ellis hasn't been eating since she left she becomes worried. Roger says that it’s just as well and suggests she takes him something to eat, she catches Jude looking at her in silence as if say: You went all that way for nothing. Kate takes a tea trolley with Ellis’ favorite foods to his room and she worries if he’ll even want to see or not though it’s been a few days. She knocks on his door and she calls for him and she asks if she can come inside. He hesitates for a moment but agrees to let her inside the room. Kate notices how thin his hands look and asks if he’s gotten thinner? He says maybe so since he had missed her. He asks her how the work assignment went and she tells him the truth about going to meet his father. She asks him if he killed his brother and he smiles and says yes. He tells her what happened:

When he and his brother were 10 they were both very active children who played together all day long. Ellis loved spending time with his brother, and wanted to stay with him forever in their town, but his brother wanted to travel the world. It was his dream. Ellis said he wanted to go with him wherever his brother went. One day, an accident happened with a carriage running over his brother. He survived, but could no longer use his legs, and ultimately his dreams of traveling the world dies. Slowly his brother began to lose his mind and no matter what he did neither Ellis or his parents could make him happy.

Ellis just wanted to see his distraught brother smile, but he noticed that his brother would become more emotional when he looked at a family picture of them all together outside. Not wanting this to hurt his brother anymore, Ellis steals the photo (which he still has to this day). When his brother can’t find the photo anywhere, he tells Ellis to give him the photo back, but Ellis lies and says he lost it. His brother said that was his only means of escape, and he starts throwing things at Ellis accusing Ellis of being selfish, greedy and happy that he is confined to their house to for the rest of his life - the house that Ellis would’ve been content staying at for the rest of his life. During his brother’s fit, Ellis realizes that he was the happiest when his brother couldn’t live without him.

Chapter 19

Ellis continues his story about him and his brother: After Ellis heard about wheelchairs, he spent a long time trying to build one for his brother. He made many attempts until he finally succeeded, and then one day he took his brother to the top of the hill they to play on all the time. He pushed his brother all around and they both laughed and played for the first time in a long time. Ellis’ brother said, “I’m so happy right now.”

In the twilight, while it is neither day or night, when everything is complete, Ellis’ brother tells him it’s enough and let’s finish it here. While they were twins, they were different on the inside, and yet still similar. He hands Ellis a fruit knife and Ellis stabs him in the heart. He wanted his brother to be happy and he was able to lock his brother’s happiness up for ever and make it last, but when his dad called him a murderous demon, he left. Ellis seems extremely tormented, when Kate was gone with the others he missed her so much, and yet he can never seem to make her happy, and he doesn’t know what to do about it anymore.

He says that after he joined Crown, he came to understand that his curse of thorns binds him to commit sin. His eyes widen in madness and he asks Kate if she’s happy? As Kate is frozen in fear, he grabs her wrist and then kisses her. She’s so confused because he had rejected her a couple of days ago, but now desperately kisses her twining their tongues together and being so aggressive with their kisses that she can’t breathe.

He pins her to the couch causing her legs to fly up and knock over the jam on the table, not letting her go.

Premium story: He continues to kiss her and asks Kate what she wants him to do, and she says she could never say such things since it’s embarrassing. He smiles and then he begins to pinch and twist her nipples over her clothes, after she reacts he starts moving towards her navel area, but Kate pushes him off. He realizes that he’ll never be able to make her happy, and he is literally about to burst into tears, so he tells her that since can’t make her happy he doesn’t want to see her anymore.

He tries to grab him, but he slips away too quickly. She tells him to wait, but he leaves and Kate chases after him all the way outside the castle, but he is too fast. She regrets not asking him what he wants and kicks herself for forcing him to open up about his and then rejected him. Yes, she is afraid of him, but she loves him. Next thing you know something hits Kate and she loses consciousness.

Chapter 20

William calls for Ellis and Jude, and Jude asks where Ellis has been at since he hasn't seen him. Ellis says that he went to see Victor to ask if he could be removed as Kate's escort. Jude is upset that Ellis got him involved in the first place, and said that he told Ellis to take responsibility for things instead of running because things got messy with Kate. Ellis says they weren’t messy, it’s just that he doesn’t want anything around Kate that’ll make her unhappy.

Jude asks where Kate is at because he went to her room earlier and couldn’t find her, and Ellis is surprised at this. William interrupts them and says he’s called them to tell them that Kate is missing and the guys are like: WHAT? William says they believe some of the thugs left over from their previous case captured her, as someone from the privy council released them on bail. Ellis ask why, and William says that it’s because the privy council believes that Crown is the stain upon Britain, but they need leverage against Crown itself.

The council plans to use the thugs as an excuse to bait Crown into capturing the thugs and have Kate die in the process, thus giving them the excuse to disband Crown because of the risk for civilian deaths. Ellis dashes off faster than a bullet to find her, meanwhile Jude says that William is up to something, since telling Ellis she’s disappeared only after being gone for a few ours is a stretch. William is like: Nah, I don’t know anything about that. He’s so angry that he grabs William by his collar, (I forgot what he said to William, but I believe he was upset that they got an ordinary person caught up in Crown's business.)

Kate wakes up in a tightly confined space with a blind fold on, after feeling around it seems to be a wooden casket. She hears men outside talking about how they’re going to lure the Crown boys into a trap using her as bait and then kill her. Kate tries to find an opening from within the casket but there isn’t one, so she resorts to trying to talk the men into letting her go, but they refuse. After a while, she loses track of time and thinks about how soon she will die. Trying to think about happier things she recall her time with Ellis on the hilltop.

After a while, she hears noises outside and she hears Ellis call for her. Worried that he’s being setup she tells him to run, but he breaks open the casket and tells her that what she’s worried about won’t happen. Kate looks at him and he’s covered in blood. She is so relieved she’s almost in tears and she apologizes to him for not trying to properly understand his feelings, and opens up to him that she was honestly afraid of being killed by him, but that doesn’t matter anymore.

She grabs his bloody hand and now they’re both stained red, and she tells him that he doesn’t need to worry about making her unhappy tomorrow because she knows that everyday they can be happy together. She tells him that while he wants to kill her at her happiest moment to make it last forever, it’s because he truly loves her not malice and on the contrary, he doesn’t really want to kill her.

She says that the night she almost died on the cliff her was relieved she was safe, and when she promised to spend time with the following day, he was clearly happy. She also said that she knows that he's going to kill her one day and that's fine. He asks if she isn't scared? Kate is scared a little, but she says that she’ll be fine. He tells her he loves her so much and entwines his arms around her like the thorns of his curse.

Ellis: I love you so much that I want to be the only one who makes you happy.

Kate: …Yea.

Ellis: I love you so much that you don’t want to be able to live without me.

Kate: Yea.

Ellis: I love you so much that I want to kill you while you're still happy.

Kate: ………….Yea.

Ellis: Stay with me forever.

Ellis: I’ll never let you go again.

[Previous] [Mad Love END] [Blind Love END] [Master List]

[annbourbon]

🖤 ✨ 🖤 ✨ Rika ✨ 🖤 ✨ 🖤

Let's start with Rika...

⚠️possible spoilers ahead, be warned⚠️

I can't believe I actually didn't realize that. I mean, I did it. Like 7 years ago, but I had no clue on how to explain it.

Besides it needs from Mystic Messenger Timeline *which I'm still working on, and trying to finish* to actually make sense.

Disclaimer: Please take into account that whatever I say here, it's only my opinion after playing the game so many years. I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, or therapist of any kind. I'm just a writer, who loves to spend time analysing characters and stories.

I did asked to my mom to help me with this and the other characters because of how difficult the task ahead of me was. My mom, who is an actual therapist, did her best to help me, but I did most of the analysis here, since I'm the one who knows the in's and outs of this game. Besides, I did my research and I'll make sure to quote it! So give it a chance and keep reading even if you disagree with me. And then, I'd love to read your thoughts on the topic 💕

Narcissus. Also known as daffodil.

Should I talk to you about the dark side of the flowers and tie it to MM characters?? Anyways, Rika is a narcissistic. But also has a profound trauma. One doesn't exclude the other. Here's a quote from Mayo Clinic:

«Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.»

Causes: The cause is likely complex. Narcissistic personality disorder may be linked to:

Environment — parent-child relationships with either too much adoration or too much criticism that don't match the child's actual experiences and achievements.

There are other two, that are genetic, and neurobiology causes, but I'll be focusing more on the environment, which let's be honest, it's what is displayed on the game. If you're interested on reading more about it, there's a link before the quote and, on References, I'll also be leaving every single link.

So let's go back to Rika and please read the next three images while remembering how's her relationship with V, and Saeran. Sometimes even with MC, and Mika.

As you can see...

Attention:

* Creates the RFA. Receives attention.

* Creates Mint Eye. Receives attention.

* Says V is her Sun.

* As soon as she gets tired, says V's killing her and wants to leave

* Wants to mix RFA and Mint Eye. I assume is because despite everything, she feels like she's losing attention on everything she created. And MC is the reason of that too.

They don't choose losers:

V is a millionaire

Jumin is a millionaire

Zen is super sexy and hot

Jaehee and the twins are really smart

Do I need to keep going? Even Elizabeth the 3rd is one of the most beautiful cats ever seen.

Grooming:

Here's the part that keeps bothering me because I realized about it before I could actually explain what it was going on. Seven years ago I decided to play the game, and I finished feeling a bit too weird on how everyone was so infatuated with Rika... it wasn't any other person that just dies and then the group dies too. It was still active two years after losing her (?) Even though they have only know each other for... 4 to 6 years?

Some even less. Like Jaehee. Which randomly brings me to: She's an ENFJ so she does focus on details like Jaehee (Jaehee might be ISFJ, ISTJ or even ESFJ considering how well she manages around people too. But that's another story.) Her enneagram is probably 1.

I can understand Yoosung, but... you know what I mean. It was weird. And once I reached the first VN novel about V and Rika I felt even more weirded out by these two.

I don't think I can pinpoint it but I felt like Rika was manipulating V so I was surprised when I realized some members were tying these two as lovers and a beautiful couple. Do you guys remember V being surprised by Rika quoting "The Sun is the mother of all"?? Yeah... Even back then, for me it was a highlight of how messed up their relationship was. But again, I couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Until, now.

After Cheritz released Another Story, and Rika DLC, many of my theories came true. But still in a disorganized way. Which is why I created The Mystic Messenger Timeline.

I did confirmed one thing:

Rika is a narcissist and V is a people pleaser (that doesn't make him any less villainous of what he is, but I'll explain once we'll reach his profile. I promise.) at least at the very beginning of this story.

She probably has psychopatic tendencies

She definitely has sadistic and abusive tendencies: I have a hard time putting through her whole behavior during Saeran's Route and especially during his AE. But she takes pleasure in hurting others. V, Saeran, MC, Mint Eye associates, etc.

A bit of One on the Enneagram:

It is called The Reformer.

Because Ones have a “sense of mission” that leads them to want to improve the world in various ways, using whatever degree of influence they have. They strive to overcome adversity—particularly moral adversity—so that the human spirit can shine through and make a difference. They strive after “higher values,” even at the cost of great personal sacrifice.

If you think I'm too far off, then please check the levels of healthy and unhealthy Ones can have. They sure ring a bit too much for me on Rika's behavior. From Level 1 to 9, we can see her evolution during the game. But here you have a couple of her worse traits.

Unhealthy Levels

Level 7: Can be highly dogmatic, self-righteous, intolerant, and inflexible. Begin dealing in absolutes: they alone know "The Truth." Everyone else is wrong: very severe in judgments, while rationalizing own actions.

Level 8: Become obsessive about imperfection and the wrongdoing of others, although they may fall into contradictory actions, hypocritically doing the opposite of what they preach.

Level 9: Become condemnatory toward others, punitive and cruel to rid themselves of wrongdoers. Severe depressions, nervous breakdowns, and suicide attempts are likely. Generally corresponds to the Obsessive-Compulsive and Depressive personality disorders

If you want to know more about this, check this.

So, why do you (player) like Rika as character?

Because it's okay, I know people who actually like Rika. I don't, but I definitely don't hate her either...

You don't need to be worried about it as long as you know what she did was wrong. That's it. Now, why do you like her/identify with her?

Things that might, or not, ring a bell:

* Trauma: Rika has a traumatic past. And you might feel like it's a mirror of your past. Hence identifying with it might not be something difficult. Of course this doesn't mean you are leader of some religious cult.

* Her willingness to fight despite having everything at odds. Let's not forget that before she goes nuts and starts brainwashing people, she did a lot of great deeds. Tried to stay positive and all that.

* Her kindness (we can discuss over certain things, but as much as she did terrible things, she also did amazing things, like creating the RFA to help people. Wether she did it with a certain master plan in mind or not, she did helped as much as she hurt and that's the important part.)

* She's just a great villain! It might be hard to understand for some people but you actually just look at her character as what it is, a character, and you're impressed by how many discussions and hot debates she brings onto the table. Understandable!

* Her flower means forgiveness♡

Do you have any other ideas for why you might like Rika? I'd be happy to read them. 💕

Also, this might be one of my last post about her. Might not be the last but I do need to finish with the Mystic Messenger Timeline, and I will but I don't think I have a lot more material to write about. So thank you for sticking with me all this time! I'm linking the main post on MysMe theories I have, I still need to finish tying up all nicely. But we're coming to the end. I'm definitely talking about trauma, coping mechanisms, parenthood, childhood and societal pressures but it'll be in other posts, possibly not even linking them to this one. Who knows? Stay tuned~!

References:

Mayo Clinic - Narcissistic Disorder Personality

Between Narcissistic & People pleaser

Medium - Beware a narcissist with a hero complex

Paired Life - Hero & Narcissist

Enneagram Institute - One

[nicaroso]

LONG POST ABOUT MUSIC AHEAD

This is mainly going to be my ramblings, which I don't normally like to do but here we are.

Recently I've started playing through a game called Lobotomy Corporation by Project Moon. If you have never heard about it, its a base management sim, with visual novel elements to tell you the story, where the goal is to work on and research different monsters to generate energy for your company.

In general the game has a large variety of tracks, but you will mostly just be stuck with one throughout normal play.

This song has a few different versions so you don't get bored, but it will be what you are listening to for the majority of your time playing. As you progress through the day, sometimes things don't go your way and an Abnormality (what the monsters are referred to) escapes. When this happens the game will change the song to one of the emergency tracks. I will refer to them as "Trumpets" as that is what will flash on your screen in game when they happen.

The First Trumpet sets the tone that something is going wrong. The calm atmosphere of the neutral track has given way to the forboding of an alarm. The track gets progressively more tense as it goes on while you are trying to take care of whatever it is that started it in the first place, with it hitting its full stride at about 1:50. If you manage to take care of the problem, then we go back to the neutral track, but if things continue to get out of hand then the game progresses to The Second Trumpet. Usually after an employee death or from multiple abnormalities breaching at once.

If the First Trumpet is "things are going wrong, but everything is still manageable" then the Second Trumpet is "get your act together before everything falls apart."

This song FUCKS. It is immediately pulse pounding. A different kind of alarm is sounding in the beginning now, and rightfully sets the mood that shit is hitting the fan. This game isn't really easy, by the way, so this songs bpm will probably be matching your heart rate. :3

These emergency tracks are absolutely stellar, but if you are careful then you will not hear them all too often which is a shame...

That is until you get to the games boss battles.

After you progress to a certain point, you are able to take on fights that symbolizes one of your colleagues regrets. The day starts off with the Second Trumpet already playing, telling you that something is wrong right away. Going through your tasks tells you that something fundamental has changed, whether it be the work you assign is not right or the training your clerks had is gone now.

At a certain point through the day, the Second Trumpet goes away and leads into that colleagues theme. This is where I fell in love.

I am not going to go over every track, but I do want to pick my favorite 2.

This song is about a man who is extremely logical and by the numbers to a fault. His trauma was such that after an employees death he became obsessed with following the rules and safety. Wanting control to guarantee the lives of those around him, but never quite being enough. This song is about a man who couldn't save those important to him.

This song is about a man who has seen too much. Someone who is directly in charge of safety. Wanting to do what he can, but becoming dejected when he realizes it will never matter. Employees will come, and all will only leave in body bags. This song is about a man who has given up, and has decided to die.

All of the songs in this game are incredible, but these boss themes really feel like they really belong to the character they are for. You feel their story through their music.

I have purposefully been incredibly vague, because I genuinely think everyone should play this game. I only wanted to gush a little about the music that I love, but the game and the story are what it is all for.

Please play Lobotomy Corporation. You will regret it. No really, this game is really hard and will make you cry.