#neuroscience of cravings

[fastlane-freedom]

Breaking the Cycle of Craving: A Scientific Approach

Cravings, whether for food, substances, or certain behaviours, can be powerful and challenging to overcome. The cycle of craving involves a complex interplay of psychological, neurological, and physiological factors. Understanding the science behind cravings is crucial for developing effective strategies to break free from their grip. In this blog, we will explore the scientific underpinnings of…

[bpod-bpod]

Cravings Crushed

If doughnuts make you drool, blame your amygdala, a structure in the brain that links emotional value (in this case yumminess) to a particular stimulus – a sight, smell, taste or sound. While such value-linking is an essential part of learning, occasionally, it might be helpful to override it. How many times, for instance, have you eaten more fries than was necessary? Recently, scientists have identified, in mice, the particular amygdala cells involved in such overindulgence and shown that inactivating the cells prevented the animals overeating, keeping them lean and healthy. The image shows liver specimens from mice in which the neurons were inactivated (left) or not (right) with a clear difference in the abundance of fat (red). In humans, diets often fail because people revert to bad habits. If it were possible to suppress those pesky amygdala neurons, however, perhaps weight loss wouldn’t require so much will power.

Written by Ruth Williams

Image from the Bo Li lab, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA

Image copyright held by the original authors

Research published in Nature Neuroscience, October 2022

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

[merelygifted]

Researchers have identified neural biomarkers associated with food and drug cravings. The findings could help pave the way for new treatments for addiction.

[fulokis]

Mission to Barnes and noble half failed, found good omens but did not find dice

[vvahrnehmung]

"Which comes first, yesterday or tomorrow? What we think of as past present and future is a story stitched together in our basal ganglia, a ‘construct’…."

canon-divergent portrayal of 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝐉. 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄, an eccentric neuroscience professor with paranoid schizophrenia who is recruited by the FBI to help solve complex cases. Pierce has an intimate knowledge of human behaviour and a masterful understanding of the way the mind works. He also has an uncanny ability to see patterns and look past people's conscious emotions to see what lies beneath – also on the team are Max Lewicki, Pierce's teaching assistant, and Natalie Vincent, a hallucination manifested as a result of his schizophrenia who also serves as his best friend.

Pierce's mind may be brilliant, but it's also damaged. He struggles with hallucinations and paranoid delusions brought on by his schizophrenia. Oddly, Daniel considers some of his hallucinations to be a gift. They occasionally allow him to make connections that his conscious mind can’t yet process. At other times, the hallucinations become Daniel's greatest curse, leading him to behave in irrational, potentially dangerous ways.

Daniel's mental condition and offbeat manner make it difficult for him to achieve the close friendships and intimate relationships he craves. He’s in his element when solving an intricate puzzle or a coded message. But in unfamiliar situations, he can quickly become overwhelmed, and only his favourite music and a crossword puzzle have the power to make things right again.

#𝐕𝐕𝐀𝐇𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐇𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐆 : independent, semi-selective, semi-active original character based on the ABC studios series "perception". english & german. promo credit, trigger warning: paranoid schizophrenia including deep & realistic hallucinations.

[bangtangalicious]

placebo (m) | part 1

⇒ pairing: jimin x reader, jungkook x reader ft ot7

⇒ genre: 18+ romance, smut, soulmate!au, academia!au, vigilante/gang!au, strangers to enemies to lovers, forbidden attraction, romeo-juliet typa shit, opposites attract, hurt/comfort, fate versus destiny, kinda dystopian, bikergang!jimin, biochemistry-student!reader, neuroscience-student!jungkook

⇒ warnings: sexual tension, making out, kissing, cuddling, just a whole lot of kissing--they just met okay lol they'll get down and dirty soon enough bear with me ;) pet names, teasing, flirting (i mean cmon its jimin), motorcycles, jungkook being fresh out of a kdrama lmfaooo, betrayal, people being judgey

⇒ premise: a scientific compatibility test matches you with your soulmate, except he's everything you hate and you're everything he stands against.

⇒ wc: 6k, short and sweet

⇒ taglist: @tornparts @loona15 @mini-euphoria @effielumiere @agustdreamsblog @jnghs @dragons-flare @xiusmarshmallow @ratherbefangirling @infires-imagines @aretha170 @dvalitaes @kookiejeonie @ddaeng-angmoh @idk123906 @medievalpink5

series masterlist | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Delicate. The way the crystal snow glided through the crisp winter air. It wasn’t cold—not yet. But enough to make your breath fog into a sweet sigh. Deep in the heart of campus, you took a moment to do just that—breathe. The sunlight was polarizing against the stunning white layer on the ground. You hugged your large coat closer to your body, basking in your own warmth. After staring at the sky for another moment you stepped forward. Crossing the street.

A car whizzed past. Quicker than light you were pulled back by the shoulders. Until you suddenly found yourself in the arms of a familiar face.

“What the fuck” His words were worried, but a smile painted over them. Exhaling softly, his hand cupped the back of your neck. He towered over you, shielding you from the strong sunrays. His silhouette breathtaking, but his face mimicking the light you could no longer see. “Be careful”

His glasses were thin rimmed. Turtleneck doing its best to hide his thick muscular build. His large wool coat fitting nicely across his broad shoulders.

You blushed. Your lab partner of three years never failed to make your heart skip a beat. Jeon Jungkook had been a friend. A colleague, and nothing more. Yet the more hours you spent grueling away in the tiny, musky lab—the later nights redoing experiments and writing up reports, you had become closer.

Despite your intuition, you began to feel hope. The moment spinning in your mind unparalleled as you arrived in lab, him not leaving your hand in case you may decide to absentmindedly wander off again. You were notoriously clumsy—you couldn’t help it. You had a lot on your mind. The cold air made you crave the warmth and safety of touch. It made you crave the day you would find your soulmate.

A sharp pain stung in the back of your neck, where a bioregulatory chip had been inserted when you were 16 years old. Everyone had them. The pain was a telltale sign that the cognitive-sexual threshold had been achieved, and you could now be matched with a soulmate. A brilliant formula that you had spent all of your early college years studying—infamous Dr. Kim Namjoon developed a way for people to recognize others who qualified for peak compatibility. The hope was to promote healthier relationships, happy families, and improved social function through strong support systems.

The pain had been recurring frequently over the last week. It was only a matter of time. They say you’ll just know when you see them. The chip is programmed to signal once it registers an ideal partner based on the compatibility test that runs whenever you look in anyone’s eyes. You hoped it would be Jungkook. That one day, you’d look in his eyes and you’d know for sure—that the sweet, soft, nerdy and beautiful neuroscience student Jeon Jungkook was yours. And you, his.

The age that soulmate’s got assigned varied, as each formula was unique to the individual. However, there were telltale signs that you would find out soon—including heat spikes in your biochip. You know for sure when the unique code of your iris meets that of your soulmate—your biochip then signals to your brain.

Hours spent together in silence, you adjusted your focus to work. The work that made you get up in the morning—that excited you about life. Carefully pipetting, time would move in a blink of an eye, until you felt a tap on your shoulder. He was leaning over your shoulder. That big, goofy smile on his face.

“Hey, I’m going to head down to the autoclave” His fingers ran through his neatly combed black hair nervously. “Do you want me to take anything down?”

Scanning your workspace, which was royally cluttered in a way with would have biohazard authorities throwing a fit—you shook your head. “No,” You smiled, “Thanks though…” Jungkook nodded, loading his cart with equipment. “Are you going to leave after?”

Taking off his thin-framed glasses, he wiped them against the pocket of his lab coat. He wore the coat so well, you swear nothing suited him more. “Yeah, I was getting hungry. Do you wanna join me for some jjajangmyeon?”

Heat rose to your face, tickling the corners of your lips into a smile. In an effort to not be too eager, you reached for your cellphone. “Sure let me just make sure I don’t have any more meetings”

“Great” Jungkook chuckled shyly, hands shifting in his pocket. His eyes glazed over you, head to toe before he gave you a nod and turned away. You watched him leave, allowing your smile to grow even more. He was so freaking adorable. God what would you have to do to get a soulmate like him? Yours would be a romance of the ages. Two scientists working in the Department of Biochemical Affection at the most prestigious science institute in the world, being each other’s most compatible. It would be amazing.

Jungkook was perfect for you. He understood what you were passionate about. Who else would listen to your geek rants about hormone interaction experiments? Or patiently wait while you fangirled over Dr. Kim Namjoon, the mastermind behind the entire field who authored the fool-proof, innovative compatibility experiment that had allowed for the government Soulmate initiative? And it didn’t hurt that he was drop dead gorgeous.

Urgently you began to clean up your workspace, grabbing your things and shoving them aimlessly into your bag—until you heard sirens outside. Brows furrowed, you headed to the windows to see what the commotion was all about.

The sun was just setting, a sweet peach hue glazing the sky, hiding the deep navy edges of the night. In the golden light, you could see two police cars surrounding two motorcycles. They were parked, one of the supposed owners talking intensely to the officers while another simply sat on his bike, a cigarette tucked in between his lips.

Your lips scowled at the man who was smoking. You hated smokers. The man held his cigarette in one hand, pushing his sunglasses up with the other. He looked to the sky—eyes bored, searching for something.

His hair was jet black. Pin straight. Leather jacket tight around his slim frame.

His eyes met yours. They were brown. Round, beautiful eyes.

“Ouch” Your hand flew to your neck. A pain burning into your skin. Hands trembling as your heart rate quickened. Blinking you realized he was still looking. Hadn’t flinched, not even once. Your lungs grasped for air—breathing out, you suddenly felt a wave of comfort. Of ease.

It was like a warm hug had overtaken your senses. You felt safe. This stranger was in your proximity and every wall you had up came tumbling down.

They say you will just know.

The man abruptly got up from his bike, his eyes not leaving yours. You watched, stunned as he tossed out his cigarette and went running towards your building. Once he was out of your vision, you gasped—suddenly aware of how long you had been holding your breath.

The safety was replaced with a sense of dread. Something bitter in your throat. You were nauseous. You didn’t want to believe it. You hoped—prayed it wasn’t true.

“Ready to go, Y/n?” Behind you, Jungkook had returned. Backpack in hand, he handed you yours. Taking it from him sheepishly, you couldn’t hide the shock on your face. “Everything okay?”

“I..I just” You were at a loss for words. Your gut told you that the man—your soulmate—was coming up to see you. You had to wait. You had to know for sure. Maybe it wasn’t true. There was still a chance that—

The lab door flew open.

“You”

Your backpack fell to the floor.

Jungkook exchanged a confused look with you as the man shamelessly entered the lab, strutting past highly classified experiments and notes all to reach you. You saw him closer now. Inches away from you. He was shorter than Jungkook, but his eyes fascinated you like nothing else. He was wearing earrings, necklaces, rings on his small fingers. His lips were thick, lush and seemed incredibly soft. He smelled like smoke. Unhinged and raw. Expect you didn’t hate it. Not on him.

He cupped your face, his hands were cold against your burning skin. He searched your eyes. So familiar, so incredibly sweet, and yet you didn’t even know his name.

Time seemed to slow. Your heart was racing. He stood there, taking you in as if he was memorizing every detail of your face. You forgot about everything—the world around him seemed to fade. A blur in your vision except he was clear as day. He was real as anything. Dizzy—your head spun with questions—with doubt. You were nervous. Suddenly feeling vulnerable in the palm of this stranger.

His touch, while aggressive, was strangely soft. His demeanor was intimidating and yet you were confident you were in no danger.

He leaned in closer. Eyes widening as though he was asking a question. You had no answers. You had no thoughts. Your mind was completely blank, senses overwhelmed until you blinked

And his lips were on yours.

He kissed you. Tender. Gentle. Quick—but long enough for you to really feel him. The way his lips fit perfectly against yours. He tasted disgusting. Tobacco on his breath. You wanted more, but he pulled away.

“Hi” His face was serious, but his eyes seemed to be laughing. “Name’s Park Jimin”

Swallowing thickly, you parted your lips to speak but he kissed you again before you could. Not realizing your hands were bunched up against his shoulders, grabbing the collar of his jacket—pulling him to you. You sighed.

Jungkook cleared his throat in discomfort. You had completely forgotten he was waiting for you. You pushed Jimin away slightly, gathering yourself before looking at him again.

“Hi J..Jimin” You extended your hand awkwardly. He raised his eyebrows, amused at your behavior, “I’m Y/n L/n” He took your hand, turning it over before he placed a fleeting kiss on your wrist. You shivered—the gesture so intimate. “I’m so sorry I have to go I uh—” you motioned towards Jungkook. “Have plans”

Jimin let your hand go, turning to Jungkook. “Hey man” He nodded his head, “Nice glasses” He winked. Jungkook looked flustered but said nothing. Turning back to you, Jimin waved. “Great meeting you, soulmate”

Your heart sank. He said it. Which meant, he felt it too. Your fate was sealed. And as you watched him leave, you couldn’t help but question where the hell this man came from—who he was—and how in the world was he your soul mate?

-

“Park Jimin?”

The steaming bowl of noodles in front of you did little to distract your mind from the overwhelming encounter you had just minutes before. Jungkook sat in front of you, seemingly more bothered by the whole episode than you had expected. Jealously was not a great look on him. You watched dully as he typed away at his tablet.

“I was so surprised. I always thought you’d get matched with someone more…you know…” He paused, searching for the right words. You knew what he meant. Exactly what he was insinuating. You felt a glow in your chest knowing that Jungkook had probably thought the same of you as you did of him. However, you found it difficult to care. Jimin may not have been what you expected, but you knew what you felt. Without a doubt.

“Like you?” You picked at your food, poking your chopsticks against your noodles aimlessly.

Jungkook took a big bite, wiping his face before scrolling down the screen, “I feel obligated to look into this guy. He seemed sketchy. And you said he was in the middle of being arrested? And rode a motorcycle—I mean do people still even do that?”

You felt guilty about judging him. Guilty that you were trying to fit him into a predesignated category in your mind before you even got to know him. You didn’t want to look him up, although you knew everything would be available. Privacy was not something valued in the state anymore. Information was completely open source. Accessible.

“He’s a student, so that’s good at least” Jungkook muttered, chewing his food.

After a few moments of silence, he stroked his jaw in confliction. Eyes glued to the screen, he had clearly found something. “Oh, this makes absolutely no sense”

“What?” You tried to reach for his device but he pulled it out of your reach.

“Park Jimin is part of an anti-science vigilante group that believes the government is using the institution of science as a way to regulate the population as per their agenda”

“Okay,” You swallowed thickly, slightly taken aback by the news. “So he has beliefs that are different than mine. That’s okay”

Jungkook raised his eyebrows, “Anti-science? Y/n, this guy is the total opposite of you. And not in an, opposites attract, cute kind of way. In an inherent personal values kind of way. You’re a scientist for heaven’s sake!”

You exhaled steadily, setting down your chopsticks. “I know the compatibility formula inside and out. It’s never wrong. Our chips know us better than we know ourselves. I must trust it, Jungkook. It feels strange to me too, okay. I mean, Jimin smokes and I hate smoking. But if he’s my soulmate—I have to try. I have to make it work”

Defeated, Jungkook put away his tablet. “Just be careful okay. I know you believe in this, but science isn’t perfect. I’m just a little worried” His voice was quiet. “I had sort of always though you would be mine. So, I’m sorry if I’m being a little much today” His eyes diverted, looking hurt.

Your heart sank. People often dated before finding their soulmates. It wasn’t abnormal at all. A part of you wished you had never seen Jimin just so you could have had more time. More time in ignorant bliss. Admiring Jungkook for a while longer, even if it didn’t amount to anything.

“I understand. Trust me, I do. But I have a duty to my soulmate. I need to find him, and get to know him” You sighed, “The science is right. Dr. Kim Namjoon is right. I’ve seen it myself”

Jungkook nodded, shifting his weight. A bought of energy overtook him—ever reluctant to give up. “Will you just do me a favor? It’s for your own good, Y/n. You’re going to meet Dr. Kim at the conference in a few weeks, right? If you can, ask him to send the compatibility test results to you—just so you can know for sure. It can’t hurt”

-

“Where the hell did you run off to?”

Steadily making his way back to his bike, Jimin could make out Seokjin’s annoyed face in the dim light. He had roughly a few seconds to come up with an excuse. Jimin surely couldn’t tell him that he found his soulmate. Not unless he wanted an earful of Jin ranting about how fucked up the compatibility formula was, and how corrupt it is for people to be force matched into relationships against their free will.

Free will. All he had left to hold onto and yet, he didn’t feel in control lately. He felt numb. Lost in the haze of a double life where the secrets drowned him out into nothing. Law student by day, his nights were spent carrying out orders from the ambiguous resistance core. Fighting for justice through a system where he still had no say. Fighting corruption through a sense of servitude. It seemed all but ironic to him.

Frankly, the state had done him no ill. The death of his brother had forced him into the company of the resistance by association. His brother was an active member. He had surgically removed his bioregulatory chip and insisted Jimin do the same. “Don’t be a pawn in someone else’s game” He had said.

Jimin didn’t listen.

Surely being a pawn was better than being a king. Walking around with a target on your back. Jimin had no one else. The resistance took him in, offered to pay for school, so there he was. Seokjin by his side since it happened. 

For the first time since the death of his brother, Jimin felt something. Sure it had been years, and maybe he had moved on. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel curious. Exited even. Who were you? Why was it you? Whether the compatibility test—whether the concept of true love was real or not, he wanted to know you.

“I uh, had to talk to one of my professors” The lie came easy to him. In a way he was protecting you already. If they knew he had been matched with a citizen, you’d be on their radar. Who knows what they might do to you? To make matters worse, you were a scientist. The resistance didn’t believe in science. Science was simply a tool to further the state’s agenda.

Which made you the enemy.

Jimin didn’t trust the resistance the least bit more than the state. Caught between two flawed systems, Jimin was barely staying afloat.

Seokjin eyed him skeptically. “I still think you should consider dropping out, Jimin. Seriously, all they will do here is plague your mind with a false history of thought. You can learn anything you need through the resistance”

Jimin rolled his eyes, kicking his leg over his bike. Shaking his head, he lifted his helmet on, glancing back up towards the window where he wondered if you still were. He wondered if you were a key. Something that would save him from his mess of influence he was in. His mother had only ever wanted one thing—that he finish college. He hated school, but he did it for her.

“Say, what does the resistance think about compatibility science?”

-

Eyes dry, drained from a day of emotions, you stared at your computer. The clock hit midnight. Tucked in bed, you were robbed of sleep, wanting nothing more than to find the mysterious Park Jimin. To know him, truly, before you let Jungkook’s words create ideas in your head.

His profile wide on your screen, school picture staring back at you. He was hopelessly handsome. Almost ethereal with those pretty eyes. You recalled how his lips felt against your, tracing your own at the thought. You craved the smokey taste of him—the taste you thought you would loathe.

The video call button under your cursor. You wouldn’t dare—you were too nervous. Nervous that Jungkook may be right, and you would find out that this man stands against everything you do. Everything you work for.

But you simply had to know.

Squeezing your eyes shut, you took a deep breath, clicking the call button. The soft ringing tone made you jump—as you waited for him to answer or ignore your call.

The ringing stopped.

Your heart with it.

And there he was. Tired, makeup off, revealing the dark circles under his troubled eyes. His room was dimly lit. He appeared to be sitting at a desk, in nothing but a white T-shirt. His muscles prominent even through the screen.

“Hi you” He grinned lazily. An easy, teasing smile. The type of smile that made you want to kiss him long and hard. “Miss me already?”

Throat tight, you were suddenly at a loss for words. A million questions in your mind, now knowing where to begin.

“Jimin—hi” You waved sheepishly at the camera, “I hope I’m not bothering you, I know it’s late”

He shrugged, leaning back in his chair, “Whatever,” You noticed that he kicked his legs up on the desk. Something inside of you felt queasy. It drove you crazy when people behaved like that—disrespecting their workspace. “Just doing some homework”

You exhaled in relief. “Right, so you’re a student?” He rolled his eyes.

“Duh. I met you on campus didn’t I?” Sighing, he reached for something. You watched as he brought a bottle to his lips. Energy drinks. Your hands curled into fists. Doesn’t he realize how unhealthy those are? “I study law”

“That’s cool” You couldn’t hide the disinterest in your voice. You had never really resonated with social sciences, being a science lover from as early as you can remember. The most reading you did was the romance novels that were hidden in your closet. You dreaded conversations about politics. Ethics. Law.

“No,” He chuckled, “It’s not. But aren’t you little miss impressive, doctor Y/n?”

You blushed, “I’m not a doctor.” Pausing, you added, “Yet”

“Biochemistry” Jimin took out his phone, clearly reading off your profile. You hated the way your ego inflated with the way Jimin sounded genuinely impressed.

“So you’re really familiar with all this soulmate crap huh?”

The feeling was short-lived. Your lips pursed. Soulmate crap. “Yeah, I guess”

“Do you think it’s real?” Tossing his phone aside, he suddenly leaned very close to the camera. Voice dropping to a low, teasing whisper, “The soulmate stuff—is it really love?”

“I do think it’s real” Your voice wavered slightly, but you were determined to stand your ground. You had been trained to deal with skeptics and if this man was your soulmate you were determined to make sure he believed it too. “I realize that it can be complicated to understand, but it’s a way to ensure high quality of life in the long run”

“Being told who to love is high quality?” Jimin taunted.

You frowned. A part of you recognize he was egging you on. You were determined not to let him get to you. “You don’t even know me. Don’t decide I’m not worth it without at least doing that”

Satisfied with your response, you relished at how Jimin’s face hardened. It wasn’t entirely uncommon for people to doubt the system. In fact, you always felt it helped hold scientists like yourself accountable to the general good. But Jimin’s doubts almost hurt. His reluctance to believe in what you dedicated your life to. Maybe Jungkook was right. Maybe this really couldn’t work.

“It isn’t personal. I just don’t buy into a chip in my back telling me what to think”

Surely, it was personal. Surely Jimin felt the same as you—that you weren’t what he wanted. He seemed unwilling to compromise, unwilling to budge. Exhaustion flooded your senses. You wanted to scream.

“Then forget it!” You snapped suddenly, slamming your computer shut. A tear rolled down your cheek, which you quickly wiped away. After a few deep breaths, you opened your screen back up. Jimin had tried calling you back.

I’m sorry

I do wanna know you, Y/n

Why don’t we try hanging out? I’ll come to your lab tomorrow after your shift.

That night, you dreamt of Jungkook. What it might have been like, being the soulmate of someone so handsome, smart, and sweet. Instead of someone who was bound to drive you crazy.

-

“Y/n” The voice of your PI, Jung Hoseok, boomed through the lab. It had been a busy day, with the important conference coming up, Hoseok was insistent that the first series of trials be complete before then. You and Jungkook had been working to the bone. “You need to redo these samples. Stay after tonight and get them done”

You groaned, setting your pipet down. Jungkook gave you a sympathetic look.

“I can’t tonight,” You spoke up, which was unlike you. But things were different now—you had a soulmate. You had to spend time with him. “I have plans”

Hoseok stomped over, towering over you. “Excuse me?”

You and Jungkook would sometimes gossip about whether you thought Hoseok had passed the cognitive-sexual threshold yet. Whether he had been matched to a soulmate, or if perhaps he would be one of the few who would never be matched.

He was so uptight, the two of you liked to joke that he’d end up alone. You always did wonder what happened to those people.

“I said, I can’t. I’ll come in early tomorrow and get them done, I promise. But I have to be somewhere tonight”

Hoseok’s jaw tightened. “Since when do you have a social life, Y/n? Ever heard of priorities? If you don’t stay back tonight and finish, you’re not coming to the conference. It’s as simple as that”

You sighed in defeat. You needed to go to that conference. Dr. Kim Namjoon, your idol and inspiration, was going to be giving a presentation. It was a great opportunity to network and see if you might be able to go work for him after you finish your degree. And Hoseok knew how bad you wanted to go.

Not to mention, you wanted a copy of your compatibility results.

“Fine”

He grinned in satisfaction, “Good”

Groaning, you returned to your pipetting. Jungkook nudged you lightly with his elbow.

“That was so manipulative” He commented, “You okay?”

Nodding, you rolled your eyes, “Yeah, I just had plans to meet Jimin tonight. But he’ll understand”

“Will he?” Jungkook muttered. You gave him a look. You had told him all about the previous night, which only affirmed his preconceived notions that Jimin was no good. That your soulmate was a doomed case. In a way you were grateful he was continuing to be your friend despite not being a viable soulmate for him. You needed support. You had a feeling this new relationship was going to be rough. “If you want me to stay back and help you, I’m happy to”

You shook your head, “No, don’t worry I got it.”

-

Jimin paced around the lobby nervously, watching as the whitecoats scurried about. He felt extremely out of place, his skinny jeans, chains and leather jacket contrasting the plain and simple dressed around him. He seriously wondered if these people had personalities, or if they were truly robotic like Seokjin liked to try to convince him they were.  

If he recalled correctly, you should have been leaving around sundown, and it was almost dark. Jimin had half a mind to go up and see where you were, but he didn’t want to deal with your big nerdy glasses-wearing, jealous friend.

Fuck it. An alarm in his chest went off. What if you were in some kind of trouble? You didn’t seem like the type of person who would be flaky and forget a date. He rushed to the elevators.

“Text me if you need anything okay Y/n!” The nerdy guy’s voice echoed as the doors of the elevator opened. Jimin stared him down as he crossed him in the hall.

“Hey glasses boy” He called. “Is Y/n in there?”

The boy gave him an unimpressed look, folding his arms over his chest. Jimin bit back a laugh.

“My name is Jungkook, I’m her lab partner. She had to work late today. Don’t bother her”

Jimin raised his eyebrows, “Jealous much?”

Jungkook pouted. “Look, she knows who you are Park Jimin. She knows about the vigilante group”

Jimin scoffed, “Vigilante group? God you’re all such fucking geeks. It’s called the resistance”

“Whatever it is, she knows. You’re dangerous, and I’m onto you—got it?” Jungkook peered at Jimin, making sure to emphasize their height difference. Jimin backed away, hands up in defeat.

“Yeah alright glasses, I got you”

Jungkook huffed, entering the elevator. Jimin watched him leave before rolling his eyes. Jealously looked so pathetic on some people, it was honestly laughable. He made his way to your lab, knocking lightly on the door. He watched as you were immersed in focus, carefully pipetting something.

“Hey you”

You looked up, eyes widening when you saw him. “Oh my god” You glanced at your watch, “Oh no! I totally lost track of time—my PI said I had to redo a whole set and stay after but I was trying to work quickly so I could still make it but—” Jimin walked over to you, resting his hand on your shoulder.

“Relax doctor. You’re so tense”

“Y-you cannot be in here without PPE”

Jimin tilted his head in confusion, “I already peed earlier?”

You blinked at him incredulously. “No—gosh, no, you need to wear a lab coat. Goggles. Gloves.”

He shrugged, taking a seat next to you. “I won’t touch anything. I’m just watching”

You pursed your lips. You tended to be a bit uptight about certain protocols. A generally unorganized individual, you had experienced one too many accidents in the lab to not take safety seriously. “It’s not just about you contaminating the samples, it’s also about your safety. If a solution were to spill you could get burned or infected or—”

“Alright!” Jimin laughed, pinching your cheek. He gazed into your stressed eyes. “I’ll wear your stupid PPE”

He wandered over to the storage closet, grabbing the materials. You watched him, the coat was far too big for him, and the goggles looked almost silly on his face. Returning to your side, he pulled the chair up close so that he could rest his head on your shoulder as you worked.

“You mind if I just stay and watch?”

“N-no. That’s fine”

Jimin smiled. You became increasingly aware of his breath tickling your cheek as you worked. Hands trembling ever so slightly. His proximity made you dizzy. Today he didn’t smell like cigarettes. He smelt addictive. Dark. Like the wild.

You glanced over at him, wanting to see if he was finding your work interesting but were started when you realized he was looking at you. Flinching, you backed away from him.

He hummed, a light laugh. “You’re cute”

You looked down, unable to meet his eyes. “Thanks, I guess” He watched as you returned to your work, unphased by his words. Your dedication was admirable, he couldn’t deny that. He also couldn’t deny he was bored out of his mind. He supposed he could talk to you in the meanwhile.

“Your lab partner. How long has that been going on? Clearly likes you”

“Jungkook? He doesn’t like me, we’re just very close” He could hear you lying through your teeth. The speed of your voice picked up ever so slightly, and your fingers tightened.

“Sure, okay.” Jimin moved closer to your face, whispering against your ear, “He told me you think I’m dangerous…Do you?”

“I don’t know you at all, so it’s hard to tell. But considering you’re in a gang, I suppose it’s a reasonable hypothesis”

Jimin grinned, “Well if you have any questions about it, I’m an open book baby”

You set down your pipet, peeling off your gloves. “I’m done” You announced, shrugging off your lab coat. “Give me your lab coat” Turning to him, you waited expectantly.

“Help me take it off” He teased. You rolled your eyes, grabbing the sleeve of his coat and tugging it down. Once you managed to get it off of him, he pulled you into his lap.

“Jimin” You exhaled. The bunched-up fabric separating you from his chest. His eyes spoke to you. Beckoned you—tempted you. As if they were daring to see what you would do.

He grabbed the coats from your hands, tossing them aside. Hands on the small of your back he pulled you in closer until your hips were locked against his. Gently he slid your goggles off and then his own, tracing your cheek with his thumb.

“Do I scare you, doctor?”

You turned your face away. “No, of course not” He pulled you face back towards him, lips melting against yours. This time, longer. Less fireworks and more comfort. You realize he was trying to give you a sense of ease. 

“I don’t hurt people. At least not people who don’t deserve it”

“How would you know who deserves to get hurt?”

Jimin’s eyes flashed. He enjoyed being challenged. “How would some scientists know who we love?”

“I don’t know if I can get past this” You whispered, “You hate what I do”

“I don’t”

“And I hate what you do”

Jimin sighed, caressing your hips. “If you don’t want to see me, you don’t have to Y/n. We still have free will. They haven’t taken that from us. Yet, anyway”

You shook your head. “It’s not wrong. If you’re my soulmate, I believe with every fiber of my body that it’s true. So yeah, we’re clearly different. And it might be hard but, I’m going to find a way to love you. I have to”

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that when you’ve already decided who I am”

The words weighed heavy in the tense air. He watched as you considered his statement, that genius little head of yours whirring at what to say next. You looked at him with such earnest guilt, Jimin wanted to kiss you again just for that. His fingers trailed up and down you back. He was warm today. You felt incredibly safe in his hold.

You let your arms slide around him, hugging him to you. Your face against his neck, lips pressed against his jugular. It was so incredibly intimate. Such a delicate moment. For a second you almost began to believe you could fall in love this man.

You rose to look at him. His lips grazed over yours, breathing you in. Pressing against yours, pushing and pulling ever so sweetly. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. Heat enveloped your body, like every sense in you came to life all at once.

His fingers wrapping around the back of your neck, pulling you impossibly close. “You taste so fucking sweet doctor” His voice was raspy, breathless. You trembled realizing just how taken he was by you.

“Jimin—wait” You inhaled sharply, pulling away before Jimin could swallow you into another kiss. Jimin steadied himself, tracing your lips while he caught his breath.

“This has been fun, doctor” He winked, nipping at your cheek one last time. Pushing you off him, he stood up, “Would you like a ride home?”

You stared at him in disbelief. “O-on your bike? I don’t know if that would be very safe—I’m not exactly comfortable with—” Jimin grabbed your wrist, pulling you chest to chest.

“I’m not gonna let you fall” You believed the words when he said them. “You wanna know me right? Well that bike is a part of who I am. Don’t knock it till you try it”

The next thing you knew he was placing a helmet over your head. Guiding you to sit on the bike before he sat behind you. His arms hovering over yours, caging you in as he gripped the handles. His chest to your back, thighs keeping you steady.

“Ready doc?”

You stared at the road ahead. It was pitch black. Anxiety danced in your gut.

“Okay” You had to trust him. He was your soulmate after all.

He took off, the engine whirring. Suddenly you were flying through the horizon. Heart beating fast as your surroundings blurred past you. In fear your hands gripped Jimin’s over the handle, steadying yourself.

You couldn’t hear anything but swore you could feel him laugh. He kissed the back of your shoulder before speeding up even more. You focused on the sensation of him—the fact that he was there, he was in control—therefore you would be okay.

You felt like laughing. A big smile on your face as you began to enjoy the rush of adrenaline as Jimin raced through the winding roads. It was exciting, the start of a new adventure. A new person who you had all the time in the world to explore. To understand his quirks, his persona, his story.

It wasn’t love, yet.

But it sure as hell could be.

When you woke up the next morning, your phone was blowing up. Hoseok had left you many messages.

Y/n—what the fuck happened

All of our data is gone—the classified trials, everything

Call me ASAP

full masterlist || ask box || series masterlist | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

a/n: thank you for reading <3 this is new territory for me so please let me know your thoughts! if you'd like to be added to the tag list, you can reply, send an ask or dm me :) have a beautiful day you beautiful human <3

[drdemonprince]

This was several days ago but it was still bugging me (autistic) so I have to be a little pedantic about your tags on the pop neuroscience post: https://www.tumblr.com/drdemonprince/742517045406613504?source=share

The post is 100%. Pop neurosci is complete bullshit. All this "dopamine"/other neurotransmitter stuff people talk about especially.

With your tags though, please don't conflate the entire field of neuroscience with fMRI. For sure, 90% or more of fMRI is total bunk, I am with you. But there are many methodologies besides fMRI. And decades of neuroscience research that is real science. Including actual experimental methods that can establish causality, unlike fMRI. Much of that is done in lab animals. (Don't want to get into animal research ethics here but there is plenty of humane, non-horrifying animal research in neuroscience, although most of it does end with the animal being humanely euthanized. Of course some people hold the position that we should never raise, keep, or euthanize animals for research purposes, which is a valid position that I don't happen to agree with.)

Almost all of what the field of neuroscience actually knows about neurotransmitters is from animal research. So when you say we have no experimental data on that - not true, we totally do, just not much of it in humans.

We even do have a way to look at real time neurotransmitter release in living human brains, by injecting people with e.g. a radioactive dopamine-receptor-binding chemical and then do PET imaging to visualize the movement of the radioactivity in their brain while they do tasks/view stimuli. As their own dopamine floods an area, the radioligand is displaced (it's designed to be a weaker binder to the receptor than natural dopamine) and you can infer dopamine release in that area. It's indirect, correlational, and does involve some fancy math (but not as bad as fMRI). But it is a method that has produced meaningful findings. Nora Volkow is one of the scientists who used that methodology to study cocaine addiction among other things. Her research combined with neuroscience using lab animals contributes to the modern understanding of dopamine's role in drug craving and drug-seeking behavior, and how dopamine has nothing to do with the pleasure or high from the drug.

There are other valuable findings from human research that are not fMRI. Including stuff done on people getting brain surgery (kinda "poke this and see what happens", but it does establish causality); TMS which experimentally disrupts certain areas; studies of people with brain damage; and histological and anatomical studies of human brains donated to science postmortem, where you can look neuron by neuron which you can't do with fMRI or other imaging or EEG. And, fMRI/imaging has produced a LITTLE bit of worthwhile stuff. Just...not much, I agree.

I think coming from social psychology you may have been mainly exposed to "social neuroscience" which is generally fMRI about social psychology stuff. And often being done by social psychologists with not enough neuroscience background, not that fMRI is done rigorously by those people either, but it doesn't help. But that is not all of neuroscience! I used to do neuroscience and taught it to college students for 10 years. It is so much more than hogwash fMRI, I promise!

Thanks for the message. If you'll bear with me being mildly pedantic back (Autism), since we were discussing the topic of anti-psychiatry, I think there being no real studies of neurotransmitter activity in humans as it relates to any kind of psychiatric drug/treatment in field is tantamount to there being no useful ecologically valid knowledge on it. Lab animal research just does not generalize well enough to ground anything that psychiatry is doing or prescribing or that is being reported in the popular press.

And I would certainly chalk up "poke and see what happens" style brain surgery as being under the "exploratory, not science" banner that I already mentioned. To say that we can establish causality with that kind of methodology is just not true. It's also just not generalizable. There is so much we don't know about variation in brain organization.

You are absolutely right that my main area of direct involvement was working in a social cognitive neuroscience lab with an FMRI and an EEG, doing absolute fuckall nonsense, but that's not all that I have familiarity with or training in. Your notes are well taken, and I sincerely thank you for them and I'm sure a lot of people will find them interesting, but I think we're still very much in the dark ages in understanding this stuff, and that stance of mine does incorporate those methodologies.

[r1ddly]

Welp! Everyone asked for him, I shall give you what you crave! Jervis tetch!

Tw: death, abuse, bullying, stalking, kidnapping, self harm, I'm sure there will be others but I am going blank on what they could be so read with caution!

Jervis was born in a very large family over in the UK, his mother getting with different men he grew up never really having a father figure, he also grew up poor and never really had a lot growing up. Compared to other children, he was tall and lanky yet freakishly smart, and because of it, it was constantly teased by people and grew up not having a lot of friends. Home life wasn't exactly better either, so he grew up pretty neglected. One thing that helped him cope was reading books. He loved many genres, but science and fantasy were his favorites! One particularly being Alice in Wonderland but which was his favorite!

Eventually he graduated from high school and with his genius intellect it landed him a spot in a pretty prestigious university in the United States, he was originally unsure about the move but seeing how none of his family really cared he just decided to leave as soon as he could. In university that's were he met his wife, alice, they were both taking a course in neuroscience and quickly fell head over heals for one another. Eventually after they graduated they both quickly got married and lived pretty happy lives for the most part, tetch Eventually gaining a job at Wayne tech which made them move to Gotham.

Everything was fine for the most part, he on the rare occasion was able to meet Bruce Wayne and they grew a small friendship as tetch was growing to be Wayne techs leading neuroscientist though many staff members didn't like that and without bruce's knowledge would bully and berate him. Jervis while used to it would on the occasion lash out in fits of anger and eventually after an incident of a group of particular bullies sabotaging an important project for Jervis it lead to him unfortunately losing his position at Wayne tech.

Being unemployed led to Jervis struggling to find a job, it eventually got him mixed up with Salvatore maroni and his goons, trying to convince Jervis to sell him some secret blue prints and projects affiliated with Wayne tech but Jervis still valuing his relationship with Bruce refused and threatened to call the authorities on maroni. Eventually this lead to an altercation with maroni that lead to the death of alice, with so much anger and despair Jervis took one of his own personal projects with him to confront maroni (a prototype to what would be Jervis's mind control machines) and put up a good fight, using his machine he was able to Mind control three of his goons (who eventually became Jervis's three loyal goons) but after finally confronting maroni his machine fails him and explodes, flashing so bright it blinds him in his right eye and causes the base to catch on fire. Luckily, a newish and quite odd vigilante called batman was able to swoop in and save whoever he could, maroni and a handful of other goons were able to escape before he came in.

In the hospital Jervis and those three goons were In a coma for 4 months, all showing brain damage from the prototype, when Jervis did wake up Bruce was there concerned for him but Jervis didn't exactly remember Bruce- unfortunately losing most of his memories, including most of his memories of his wife. By day Bruce would be there to give him company and to help jog his memories, and by night batman would come and also help. Eventually Jervis mixing up some of his memories started to believe that he was the mad hatter from the storybook and refused to believe the woman he was shown (his wife in their wedding photo's) was his Alice, though when asked who exactly his Alice was he would describe her exactly how she was when alive though he could never describe her visually. He refused to believe that his Alice was dead, believing she was just lost in a new environment as to him they just moved to Gotham to start a new life and his last memory of his Alice was with them drinking tea together chatting, last thing he remembers her saying was "don't forget your hat". Unknown to him that was his last interaction with his wife.

Eventually he was put into arkham asylum for his protection and to help his recovery where he was watched over by Dr. Arkham and Dr. Crane but would eventually grow restless and somehow escape. And after a 2 years of being missing came back as the mad hatter.

Hatter doesn't really find any interest in robbing people or murder or power, most of his schemes are made to help find his Alice. Occasionally there will be someone who he thinks would be his Alice and would quietly stalk them, watching them every day waiting for the right time to finally take them out for a tea party. Of course, Jervis doesn't see this as stalking and kidnapping, to him he was just being shy, to him he feels in his heart Alice already is waiting for him and that she's ready for anything when it comes to Jervis. But eventually something goes wrong and it makes him realize that this person is not his Alice, with this knowledge he grows angry and lashes out, never to the person! But to himself, angry that he could be so foolish to mistake them for his Alice and that he's wasted this person's time. Though unsure on how to handle the mix up he leaves it to his goons to handle them, which unfortunately leads to the person being dumped someone or even killed. Usually though batman is there to intervene in these tea parties.

Hatter before and after the incident has always been a friendly and kind man, never really wanting to hurt anyone. But he's prone to intense rage and often times takes it out on objects or to himself, having scars align his arms and legs. After the incident he often times experiences chronic headaches and has short term memory loss, cause of it He's always writing down this thoughts but they always end up being nonsense.

Now here's some little tidbits about Jervis I couldn't really fine a way to incorporate into the synopsis!

While Jervis is usually dissociated there are times where he's calm and collected, where he's behaving just as he did before the incident, this gives Bruce a lot of hope that Jervis can get better.

While Jervis believes in a lot on nonsense and things that are clearly untrue he is very adamant that Quandarism and riddler are quacks and are untrue and that he feels pity for those who genuine believes in that nonsense.

Jervis is pretty tall and lanky, after the incident he's lost a lot of weight and is relatively weaker then before and unfortunately has anorexia

He's actually pretty serious most of the time, rarely ever being childish. When people laugh at him he gets incredibly angry

While he HATES going to arkham asylum he genuinely like Dr. Crane and occasionally flirts with him (unknown that's what he's doing)

He's the only rogue to come close to knowing Batman’s true identity

Welp! That's pretty much it for Jervis! Took some time to type but I'm glad I did! Was actually surprised Jervis got the most votes lmao!

[marshmallowprotection]

I don’t have a great relationship with my family, reason I say this is because I got my bachelors degree in both biology and psychology with a minor in neuroscience. I got honors and stuff. But my parents made the day about themselves, and when I inconvenienced them during move out day, they ruined the entire celebration for me and told me I was selfish. I’m currently being ostracized by them, they’re ignoring me, destroyed my graduation flowers, etc. They did this all in front of my college friends too, so you can publicly humiliation to the list.

It was supposed to celebrate my achievements, but things either keep escalating or everyone is ignoring me.

Do you think GE Saeran and the rest of the RFA members would celebrate with me? Mystic messenger always gave me the kind of found family I craved for a very long time, it’s times like these, I wish I could spend it with a family who can show me they love and care about me. Where I can be celebrated. You think they would give me that?

First of all, congratulations on graduating! It's a feat in itself to finish high school, and it's another to make it through university! You did a lot of hard work and it will pay off. I promise. I'm just sorry that your family doesn't appreciate how hard you've worked to make that work come to fruition. They don't deserve your sunshine when all they do is rain on your parade.

I can promise you that the RFA would help you celebrate your grand achievement. They would plan a surprise party for you, too, if you're okay with those. Jumin would be happy to discuss more about your studies, Jaehee would commend you and give you some advice for your next steps forward into the world, Zen would give you flowers and a nice pat on the back, Yoosung would toast to your graduation as you both lament the highs and lows and university, Saeyoung's on your tail and he's got fifty questions about your own field of study he wants to know from a future leading expert in the field.

And Saeran?

Love in his eyes, warmth in his words, and a kiss to your lips as he tells you how proud he is of you. You're living a life that he's not only a part of, but a crucial part of. God knows you've inspired him to work towards a brighter education for himself, too! You've shown him that hard work does pay off, and you deserve to be applauded for the hard years you spent studying to achieve your degree!

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

⭐!!

I have had half finished asks from this ask game sitting in my drafts for weeks and by god I will finish some of them.

Let’s talk Shoko’s discussion of RCT in chapter 11.

Pretty much every character that I write is at least a slightly unreliable narrator. Some of what they say is inaccurate, some is tinted by their own biases, some is just straight up untrue.

Shoko analogizes the experience of RCT pretty heavily to drug use. And while this comparison is not entirely inaccurate, I think it’s not entirely accurate either. And that’s directly because she’s been so heavily affected by her own experiences with RCT that she can’t really untangle the two.

It’s not a bad analogy. RCT hits you with some extremely good feeling or effect when you use it. In the aftermath, you go through a period of craving it. And the more you use it, the less of an effect it has, so you need higher doses to get the same effects. There’s a lot of similarities.

But RCT is in no way as bad as drug use.

For one thing, there’s absolutely zero negative health effects to RCT. The opposite is true, actually—it has a positive effect on your health. It is also guaranteed to lose all “negative” side effects one day—and I use negative loosely, because RCT itself doesn’t actually have any negative side effects. Cursed energy does. The positive effects of RCT just make them more noticeable.

Shoko talks about RCT in terms of drugs because of what the higher ups did to her.

When writing Shoko, I couldn’t really escape the fact that we just didn’t have a lot about her in canon. She’s an ex smoker. She drinks a lot. She’s one of the only people who can use RCT, and the school keeps her almost on lock down as a result. She was friends with Gojo and Geto in high school. She cheated through med school. There wasn’t a lot past that.

So I do what I usually do when I have a character I want to write and not a lot of canon to base them on, and I pick a few of their known traits and spin those out.

I thought it would be interesting if she had a kind of addictive personality. She’s been smoking (and likely drinking) since early in high school at least. She seemed to struggle to break her smoking habit, and relapsed in the series.

It also kind of made sense to me in terms of the change joining jujutsu tech would have made.

We don’t know anything about her family, so I assume that she’s from non-sorcerer lineage, and it seems like she knew RCT when she came to jujutsu high. So a young kid who had no context for what was going on and had fucking healing superpowers? I would have thought I was invincible. I would have been flinging myself off cliffs.

But then she joined the wider jujutsu world, and she was canonically sort of kept in time out from then on. She was too valuable to risk as their only healer, so she very rarely got to go out on missions and was kept on campus for her own safety.

So, assuming Shoko had the same response of “holy fuck I’m Wolverine” that I would have had, she very quickly went from Kamikaze For Tots to being swaddled in bubble wrap and placed in her princess tower.

Her only friends were probably kept extremely busy, considering they were both special grade. So she probably spent a lot of time on campus alone, bored as fuck, trying to thumb her way through Neuroscience for Dummies and looking for something to do. She was isolated and vulnerable. If someone wanted to convince someone of a bad idea, telling a bored and lonely kid with an addictive personality who had a guaranteed way of undoing the bad effects that smoking was fun and cool and good for her is a pretty solid target. She would have been a prime target to be introduced to drugs and alcohol from a young age.

It also just seemed kind of weird to me that she was a smoker in high school? The legal smoking age in Japan is 20. Shoko’s a teenager. Her class is made up of literally three people. Like, if you ever wanted to have an anti-smoking initiative in a school with a high chance of success, it would be the school that has three fucking students. Culturally, smoking seems to be perceived a little more positively in Japan than it is in America, which you can’t discount when grading response of the school administration, but also you can’t discount the fact that it is something outlawed for the child’s wellbeing and the school at least was turning a blind eye to it because, again, they had three fucking students so it’s kind of hard to miss.

I decided that if the school was the one starting her on cigarettes and alcohol, it would have indulged that self destructive, addictive part of her that was getting antsy now that she was in a Princess Tower. It would have made her feel cool, and it wouldn’t have seemed to have any consequences because all she had to do was heal the damage they did.

But it would have also made her dependent on the school’s administration. They’re the ones who supply her with the cigarettes and alcohol. She can’t easily get them on her own while she’s underaged. It’s a little point of control that they have over her now.

Of course, that point of control wasn’t enough. When Maki talks about Gojo taking off with Megumi, Shoko and Nanami took off with them. She had shown that she was willing to leave. And she was getting older. She wouldn’t need them to buy her cigarettes anymore.

So they introduced her to the harder stuff, which set her off into an actually negative cycle with RCT. She would do hard drugs, which would get her high. Then she’d heal the damage, which would make her feel high. Then would get withdrawals from both drugs and RCT and be driven to do more. Then she’d acclimate to her doses of both, which would drive her to do higher doses of drugs, which would lead to more damage, which would lead to a bigger high with RCT. She was just constantly destroying herself and healing herself in an endless loop, and she feels a lot of shame about how bad she let it get.

I think that the lens we view the world through is in no small part the product of our unconscious biases and personal experiences. She described it in terms of drugs because that was her experience. But it really is different from drugs in a lot of ways, and it’s not inherently negative. Someone else might have come up with a different analogy than drugs. She came up with such a negative one because her experience with it was so negative, and it’s kind of sad to me. It’s a huge part of her life, and she’ll never quite reclaim how she views it from what the higher ups did to her.

[matryoshka-writes]

Hello again! Can I get a matchup with a jjba part 5 guy and overwatch? (anyone is fine, I'm okay with bad guys too). If it's too much, I'd only prefer jjba.

Female, she/her, infj, gemini.

Personality wise, I got two sides (stereotypical for a gemini, I know). Most of the times, I'm affectionate, teasing, playful and loving but I also get dead serious, cold and slightly intimidating in a blink of an eye if it's needed. I'm basically that meme: I can be your angel or your devil. Extremely ambitious when I want something or when I want to excel at something. Good listener, empath. Really protective and caring to my dear ones (I'd do anything for them). I work in the medical field and I am a geek about neuroscience and psychiatry. Sometimes I flirt by throwing some odd medical facts in the conversation. Most of the times I'm confident enough and can stand up for myself. I tend to overwork myself in silence. Bottling up everything and walk it off, continue working and caring for others more until the last drop. I end up craving a break to relax or lash out, even let someone else take the lead for me.

My main love language is physical touch. I have a calm presence as a lover. I like to help my partner relax from all daily restraints (and also experience whatever fantasies).

Aesthetically wise I go for dark feminine and old classic outfits (blazers, black dresses, long coats). Colour palette: dark red (favorite), black, white, silver. Appearance: short, curvy, blonde hair, hazel eyes and I have a hidden tattoo of a crescent moon.

My hobbies are: reading, dancing, training (let that anger out in a safe way) , playing guitar.

Hope this is alright for you and not too long or confusing. Thank you so much for your time. Take care of yourself and have a wonderful time!

Hello! Thank you for doing this trade with me~♡ I am so excited to write these for you!

I match you with:

Diavolo!

♡ He is a very reserved person and tries to hide his identity as much as he can, however once he met you he felt a tingle in his heart that he hadn't experienced in a long time.

♡ It took him some time to adapt to these new feelings and to admit them to himself, but once he warmed up to them he decided to confess to you and show his real identity to you which only meant that he trusted you with his life.

♡ He lacks a lot of stability and human connection in life and you are the one that fills that role for him...finally he doesn't feel alone anymore. He loves that you can be playful, brining that sort of light and happiness he needed in his life, but also that you can be dead serious he finds it super attractive.

♡ Your knowledge in medicine intrigues him. He finds you very intelligent and loves listening about various facts, it also helps him learn a lot about things he hadn't known about prior.

♡ He had grown attached to you, you are the only person he can trust with everything, you are his comfort person after all. Being a mafia boss weights heavily on his shoulders so every time he feels overwhelmed he would come to you.

♡ He LOVES the fact that you show your affection trough physical touch, it calms his nerves down after a very long day of stressful work. He would hold you in his embrace and nuzzle your neck as he cuddles with you, it's very calming to him.

♡ He really likes your style. He finds your fashion sense very attractive and classy, sometimes he would match his blazers with you.

♡ Whenever you feel overwhelmed from work he would always be there for you. If he sees that you overwork yourself he would pull you in his embrace and drag you out of the office to the bedroom before laying with you cuddling you.

♡ Diavolo can be quite jealous of others interacting with you, especially the men he works with.

♡ He would quite literally give up his life for you. He is very overprotective of you, you are his treasure after all someone who keeps him calm, at this point he can't imagine his life without you. Runner up: Leone Abbacchio: The first time he saw you it was your fashion style that drew his attention. He found you very mysterious which only led him to want to learn more about you. At first glance you did seem like his type, and as he learned more about you he was sure you were the one.

I match you with:

Hanzo Shimada!

♡ Hanzo is a very traumatized man that lives with the constant guilt of killing his own brother, though that guilt became easier to bear once you came into his life.

♡ You listen to him very well and even give him good advices which helps him ease his mind. When you came into his life he swore to get better just for you, you were his new reason to live.

♡ Your medical knowledge came in handy. He tends to hurt himself a lot during missions and you always curse him for it, though he enjoys when you take care of him, your gentle touch is soothing to him.

♡ Hanzo is a very physically active man and the fact that you love training as well was very attractive to him, besides he would always have a training session with you. It was a good way to spend his time with a loved one.

♡ This man is very touch starved, he was repulsed by touch before you and you were the one to help him ease up about it. He loves to brush his knuckles against your cheek before giving you a soft kiss on your forehead. It was his way of showing how much he cherished you and the need to protect you.

♡ You are very precious to him, he is quite clingy to you as he fears of losing another person so dear to him. Every time he is away from you while he is on the mission he just can't stop thinking about you.

♡ When he is training his archery he loves having you by his side and lets you watch. He would often perform tricks just so he can earn praise from you.

♡ After he is done with a mission he would come home and surprise you with a cake or a chocolate, it was his way of showing how sweet you are and how much you mean to him.

♡ His love language is words of affirmation. Before you he wasn't a romantic, quite the opposite, he was way too focused on his grief that heavily weighed on his heart. Once you came along though, he would shower you with I love yous and other sweet words every day.

♡ The rest of the Overwatch group noticed the way Hanzo had changed for the better since meeting you. He is more focused, less depressive and has more spark...you were the light of his life.

Runner up: Reaper: He is quite edgy and a very serious person, however your playful nature brought a different side to him that he didn't know existed. He also really loves your fashion sense, black is his color after all.

Dividers by cafekitsune

[digitalvirtuoso]

SUMMARY OF ATOMIC HABITS

THE FIRST PART

In his seminal work Atomic Habits, James Clear delves into the science of habit building and provides practical strategies for creating positive habits and breaking negative ones. Clear argues that small changes compounded over time can yield remarkable results. Simple, little changes, or "atomic habits," as he calls them, can have a huge impact on our daily lives. Drawing on anecdotes and research in psychology and neuroscience, Clear lays out a plan for developing good habits and breaking bad ones throughout the book. Each chapter of the book will be summarized here, with the important points and actionable steps you can take to change your habits and reach your objectives.

The Incredible Influence of Atomic Habits: Chapter 1

 To get things rolling, Clear emphasizes the power of atomic habits or little changes that, when added up, may have a huge impact. He proposes the "Plateau of Latent Potential," a theory wherein habits don't appear to matter until they pass a certain point and begin to make a difference. Focusing on little, steady improvements is the key to long-term success, according to Clear.

Section 2: The Interplay Between Your Habits and Your Identity

 In this chapter, Clear explores how behaviors relate to one's identity. More than just our actions, he explains, our habits reveal a lot about our ideas. Changing our routines allows us to start again and become the person we always imagined ourselves to be. A concept introduced by Clear is "habit stacking," the practice of associating new habits with older ones to make them more automatic.

Third Chapter: Four Easy Steps to Better Habits

 Cue, craving, reaction, and reward are the four stages that makeup Clear's framework for helping people form good habits. He goes into detail on the process of habit formation and how understanding it might help us create new habits more easily. A clear, appealing, easy, and satisfying habit is more likely to lead to success, according to Clear.

Chapter 4: The Unattractive Man

The importance of maintaining a routine is emphasized by Clear through the usage of Jerry Seinfeld's "Don't Break the Chain" storyline. To reinforce desirable behavior, he suggests keeping a streak going and maintaining a record of your habits. Furthermore, Clear delves into how environments impact the formation of habits and provide practical ways for establishing circumstances that promote desired behaviors.

How to Establish a New Habit (Chapter 5)

 To overcome obstacles like resistance and procrastination, Clear delves into the concept of habit initiation. He proposes the "two-minute rule," the idea that any habit may be started in less than two minutes. By dividing our actions into smaller, more manageable tasks, Clear shows us how to avoid stagnation and make progress toward our objectives.

Part 6: The Importance of Ambience Over Motivation

This chapter presents Clear's argument against the commonly accepted view that intrinsic motivation plays a major role in habit formation. He argues that our environments substantially affect our actions and that even little modifications to these factors can have a major effect on our habits. When talking about "habit shaping," Clear suggests changing our environment to make it easier to do good habits and harder to do bad ones.

The Key to Self-Regulation (Chapter 7)

Clear delves into the idea of self-control, showing how one may build willpower like a muscle via practice. He proposes the concept of "temptation bundling," which is combining a desirable behavior with a less appealing one, to increase the perceived attractiveness of the desired action. When it comes to bouncing back from obstacles and sticking to routines, Clear also mentions the importance of mindset.

Chapter 8: How to Establish Good Habits Automatically and Eliminate Bad Habits Permanently

 How to make good habits inescapable and negative habits impossible is explained in Clear. He then goes on to explain how habit stacking and habit bundling are two methods for reinforcing good habits. Also discussed in Clear is the concept of "commitment devices," which are external constraints that are used to promote good behavior and discourage undesired ones. Clear shows us how to make things happen so that we can reach our objectives.

Chapter 9: The Golden Rule for Changing Behaviours

The fundamental rule of behavior change is introduced in Clear with an emphasis on its clarity, attractiveness, simplicity, and satisfaction. He continues by saying that we can replace destructive behaviors with healthy ones by adhering to this rule. Practical examples and strategies for using the rule in areas ranging from health and fitness to creativity and productivity are provided in Clear.

The Tenth Chapter: How to Maintain Daily Habits

The significance of maintaining a routine when forming new habits is highlighted by Clear in this chapter. To keep our behaviour, he gives us practical strategies like habit tracking, accountability, and habit contracts. Clear stresses the significance of minor triumphs and acknowledges progress to keep motivation and momentum throughout time.

Chapter 11: The Game-Changing Impact of an Accountability Partner

To increase the likelihood of success, Clear suggests finding an accountability partner and investigates the function of accountability in habit formation. He says that sharing goals and progress with others can lead to accountability, encouragement, and motivation. Choosing the right accountability partner and setting clear expectations for the relationship are also important topics covered in Clear.

Chapter 12: The Sweet Spot for Multiple Habit Changes

For the greatest results, Clear suggests focusing on a single habit at a time and discussing the optimal number of habits to break simultaneously. He proposes the concept of "habit graduation," which means that to avoid overwhelm and burnout, one should become proficient in one habit before moving on to another. When it comes to prioritizing behaviors and juggling many objectives, Clear also has some good advice.

How to Use Atomic Habits in Your Personal, Professional, and Financial Life (Chapter 13)

The final chapter of the book is devoted to Clear's exploration of the practical implications of atomic habits. He discusses a variety of themes, including relationships, business, and finances. He suggests that one adopt atomic behavior to achieve joy and success, and he shows how even little changes can have a big effect on both areas of life.

In summary

Atomic Habits, written by James Clear, is a revolutionary guide to developing good routines and breaking bad ones. If we want to achieve our goals and make a permanent change, we need to understand the science of habit-building and apply practical techniques. We may improve our lives and make positive changes by using Clear. No matter what your goals are—better health, stronger relationships, or more productivity—Atomic Habits can help you get there.

[ofhaunts]

             welcome  to  antioch,  karo  saelim!  local  sources  report  that  you've  been  in  town  for  32  years  and  are  known  to  be  wise  yet  inhibited.  others  have  dredged  up  rumours  that  you're  involved  in  the  vampire  of  antioch  as  nora  winters'  roommate,  but  most  know  you  for  your  work  as  a  waitress  at  blue  moon  diner.  we'll  see  you  around  town  soon!   ›   pinterest.

𝐢.  𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬.

playlist.  tasks.  headcanons.  introspection.  visuals.  edits.  wanted.  memes.  honesty  hours.

𝐢𝐢. 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐬.

brooklyn,  blackwood  institute  trilogy  ( books ).  misaki,  maid  sama  ( anime/manga ).  scarlett,  the  blood  we  crave  duet  ( books ).  moonyoung,  it's  okay  not  to  be  okay  ( kdrama ).

𝐢𝐢𝐢.  𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥.

character  name:  karo  saelim.   nickname(s):  ro,  kar.   faceclaim:  davika  hoorne.   birthday:  20  october  1990.   age:  thirty3.   place  of  birth:  spokane,  washington  &  moved  to  antioch  when  she  was  one  after  her  dad  got  a  job  offer.   zodiac:  libra  ( western ),  metal  horse  ( chinese ).   mbti:  istj-t,  the  logistician.   moral  alignment:  true  neutral.   enneagram:  type  8,  the  challenger.   occupation:  waitress.   place  of  work:  blue  moon  diner.   subplot  affiliation:  the  vampire  of  antioch  as  nora  winters'  roommate.   three  positive  traits:  wise,  independent,  honourable.   three  negative  traits:  inhibited,  obsessive,  self-indulgent.   languages:  english,  thai,  french,  and  american  sign  language.   love  language:  acts  of  service  is  how  she  likes  showing  love,  physical  touch  is  how  she  likes  receiving  love.   sexuality:  pansexual  /  pan  +  demiromantic.   education:   bachelors  of  science  in  neuroscience.   piercings:  six  on  each  ear,  various  placements.   tattoos:  "amor"  on  outer  left  hand,  "soif  de  vivre"  ( french  for  thirst  for  life)  in  red  script  along  her  right  trap,  a  floral  +  bee  design  on  her  sternum,  single  line  brain  with  flowers  design  above  left  elbow  for  her  father,  a  wishbone  on  outer  right  wrist  that  she  got  with  nora.

𝐢𝐯.  𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.

tw:  brief  mentions/hints  of  illness,  parental  death,  addiction,  abuse,  drunk  driving,  car  accident.

raised  by  a  single  dad  who  was  lost  to  an  illness  when  karo  was  eleven.  when  her  mother  was  informed  of  the  loss  ( and  the  life  insurance  payout ),  she  came  back  to  antioch  to  care  for  her  despite  the  pair  having  never  met  before. unfortunately  for  karo,  the  love  of  her  father's  life  wasn't  the  woman  he  thought  she  was.  she  had  a  temper,  sought  comfort  at  the  bottom  of  a  bottle,  and  gambled  money  as  if  it  grew  on  trees.  every  cent  lost  was  karo's  fault,  and  she  made  sure  her  daughter  knew  it,  leaving  behind  bruises  karo  explained  away  as  evidence  of  her  clumsiness.   after  a  particularly  strange  win---strange  because  it  was  something  her  mother  never  did---when  karo  was  in  her  junior  year  of  high  school,  she  decided  to  pick  her  daughter  up  from  her  study  group  to  "celebrate".  despite  the  alcohol  pervading  the  cab,  she  didn't  wish  to  anger  her  mother.  not  when  this  was  the  first  time  she'd  ever  smiled  at  her. their  trip  was  cut  short,  resulting  in  karo  outliving  both  of  her  parents,  though  she  didn't  walk  away  from  the  accident  unscathed.  partial  sensorineural  hearing  loss  in  her  right  ear,  the  doctor  said,  all  thanks  to  the  airbags. after  finally  given  the  okay  to  return  to  "normal"  life,  karo  was  taken  in  by  a  friend's  family  so  she  didn't  need  to  spend  the  remainder  of  her  high  school  career  trying  to  adjust  in  foster  care. eventually,  she  went  on  to  get  her  bachelors  degree  in  neuroscience  from  antioch  university.  despite  having  no  desire  to  excel  or  even  make  a  career  in  the  field,  karo's  decision  was  made  solely  in  an  attempt  to  feel  closer  to  her  father  who  was  a  neurologist  before  he  got  sick.  upon  graduating  with  her  degree  at  twenty2,  karo  went  back  to  her  old  job  at  the  diner  ( one  she  quit  after  the  accident )  this  time  as  a  full-time  employee  and  she's  been  there  ever  since.

𝐯.  𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬.

regarding  her  languages,  english  and  thai  were  taught  to  her  throughout  childhood.  french  was  the  foreign  language  she  chose  to  learn  in  school.  asl  is  something  she  learned  after  the  accident. while  her  hearing  loss  is  partial,  it  usually  gives  her  the  most  trouble  when  there's  too  much  background  noise  or  if  the  voice/information  is  coming  through  a  speaker  ( e.g.,  a  mobile  device,  a  microphone,  etc. ).  this  is  why  she  does  her  best  to  avoid  crowds  and  prefers  that  you  text  her,  or  speak  to  her  in  person  if  necessary. has  never  had  a  single  drop  of  alcohol  and  refuses  to  ever  try  it.  she  doesn't  even  like  taking  simple  over  the  counter  pain  meds  for  headaches,  because  of  her  mother's  history. big  reader.  will  read  just  about  anything,  but  she's  a  lover  of  poetry,  the  classics,  and  anything  philosophical. one  of  her  special  interests  is  all  things  flowers.  she  knows  what  every  single  one  of  them  means,  how  to  care  for  them,  etc.  seriously,  she  will  completely  geek  out  if  you  let  her  so  pls  don't. i  imagine  her  signature  scent  to  be  a  lot  like  sandalsun  by  hermetica  paris  ( think  a  warm  woodsy  scent  with  hazelnut  and  vanilla ),  and  because  she  also  follows  a  lot  of  the  same  notes  with  her  body  care  products,  even  the  smell  of  the  diner  can't  win. she's  very  quiet,  the  way  she  walks,  talks,  lives,  etc.  would  be  exceptionally  skilled  at  sneaking  up  on  nearly  anyone  if  her  scent  didn't  give  her  away. has  a  brown  burmese  cat  named  sun  ( her  full  name  is  sunstra,  but  karo  only  calls  her  that  when  she's  in  trouble ).  at  first,  she  tried  living  alone  after  nora's  murder,  but  she  couldn't  stand  the  empty  place  anymore  and  getting  a  new  roomie  felt  as  if  she  were  replacing  nora,  so  she  compromised  and  got  a  kitten. has  a  very  strong  moral  compass  for  herself,  though  it  may  not  always  align  with  what  is  considered  socially  "normal".  she  doesn't  try  to  push  her  ideals  or  make  someone  feel  like  they're  wrong  for  any  belief  or  opinion  they  may  have  on  something,  though  she  won't  hesitate  to  share  her  own  stance. she  doesn't  lie.  like..  ever.  sure,  she  has  no  problem  telling  you  that  she  doesn't  want  to  share  something  with  you  or  that  it's  none  of  your  business,  she  may  evade  divulging  any  information  entirely,  but  she  doesn't  lie.  this  is  something  she  takes  very  seriously,  and  one  way  of  getting  on  her  bad  side  is  to  lie  to  her.  also,  she  can  hold  a  grudge  like  no  other  so  if  you  end  up  on  her  bad  side,  good  luck  ever  getting  off  of  it. hasn't  shed  a  single  tear  since  her  father's  death.  not  from  sadness,  not  from  anger,  not  from  pain,  not  from  happiness.  nothing.  not  to  say  she  doesn't  feel  those  emotions,  because  she  most  certainly  does,  she  just...  can't  seem  to  cry. lol  vulnerability  is  hard.  pls  don't  ask  her  to  do  it.  i  mean,  she's  great  at  making  you  feel  like  you're  close,  but  know  that  unless  you're  extra,  extra  special,  you're  really  just  out  of  arms  reach  emotionally  to  her. at  work,  she's  a  lot  like  bartenders  are,  like  in  terms  of  being  good  conversation  partners  /  advice  givers,  except  she  does  it  while  she  feeds  you  pancakes  instead  of  drinks. speaking  of  pancakes,  she's  a  phenomenal  cook.  this,  along  with  getting  you  flowers,  are  her  favourite  ways  to  show  her  affection.

𝐯𝐢. 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

first  love  /  ex.  this  is  the  first  person  she  truly  let  in  and  by  golly  gosh  did  she  fall  hard.  all  details  can  be  discussed,  especially  considering  this  is  extremely  open.  all  i  can  promise  is  lots  of  angst.  open  to  anyone  30-38. childhood  bestie.  they  were  pratically  attached  at  the  hip  since  diaper  /  toddler  days,  but  when  karo's  father  died,  she  pulled  away  from  everyone  and  retreated  into  herself,  distracting  herself  with  school.  when  her  mother  was  finally  added  to  the  picture,  i  imagine  she  may  have  even  started  to  lash  out  a  bit  to  push  this  person  even  further  away.  she's  always  regretted  it,  but  given  how  much  time  has  passed,  she  doesn't  know  how  to  reconcile.  she's  also  really  embarrassed,  both  about  her  life  story  and  her  actions  towards  this  person,  so  she's  still...  not  that nice.  open  to  anyone  30-36,  raised  in  antioch. person  ( +  their  family )  who  who  took  her  in.  they  knew  each  other  from  school  and,  whether  it  was  through  the  grapevine  or  from  karo  herself,  they  heard  about  karo's  situation  and  convinced  their  adult(s)  to  let  her  stay  with  them  for  the  remainder  of  her  junior  year  +  her  senior  year  for  whatever  reason.  this  can  be  either  a  positive  or  negative  connection,  i  have  no  preference.  open  to  anyone  31-34,  raised  in  antioch.   parental  figures.  this  is  pretty  self  explanatory.  she's  missed  her  father  immensely  since  his  passing  and  she's  never  known  the  love  of  a  mother.  these  are  people  she  looks  to  for  parental  advice  /  comfort.  open  to  anyone  45+.

[blood-starved-beast]

Lady Maria for the blorbo bingo!

BINGO WOO

Maria is interesting to me cause she wasn't what got me into Bloodborne in the first place. And largely, I actually didn't really know much about her (in that she even existed) before that despite her being the Face of the Game post DLC release.

and yet!! everything about her design is catering to me directly (Miyazaki do you have a direct link to my brain???). In conjunction with my black plague phase as a kid I really loved that tricorn hat army aesthetic from the late 1700s specifically like what Maria wears. The peak gender envy 11 year old me would have been so insanely jealous of Maria's drip. (lowkey think this was intentional on Maria's part - not at me of course but @ everyone else on the Hunt).

The more I learned the more I realized this character is the kind I love - a soggy, pathetic wet rat of a masc woman who despite her "cool" appearance is actually really mediocre as an individual. Peak women's wrongs here she is a Bastard. And she's even more fun cause of my own bg (neuroscience) really informs me of how much of a fucked up human being she is. I cannot buy any of the "oh she was actually so sweet and the circumstances ruined her 🥺" interpretations. She uses the corpses of the people who she got to adore her as compost for her beloved flowers ya'll. This woman is Insane.

It's insane to me how protagonist-coded and yet she's such a failure. Failed redemption arc, haunting the narrative cause she was such a colossal fuck up. They way everything adds up (her backstory, her actions/morals/designs/etc.) she would have been the Main Character, but she didn't. She took "running from the Call" in the hero's journey and stuck to that. Her dream is nothing but her living in eternal torment of her own failures and I suspect part of the torture is self-inflicted (she can leave the room whenever she pleases but doesn't cause that'll require her to face her mistakes). I crave for fics that deconstruct or otherwise play with that narrative like you wouldn't believe.

I admit the reason I got the figma of her cause I wanted to get the High that no doubt Kos feels every time she fucks with her in the nightmare. Shaking her violently.

[creative-anchorage]

Over the last decade, loneliness has reached so-called epidemic levels, with public health officials and researchers alike quantifying the mental and physical health impacts of living in social isolation. Still, there is no one way to experience loneliness. It’s the isolating dread of not having found your place in the world. It’s the heaving weight of grief after losing a person, a place, a community. It’s the pang of anxiety when you remember how long it’s been since you saw your best friend. It’s a sense of foreignness despite being surrounded by familiar faces. What is loneliness? The state of isolation is not the same as loneliness. “People can still feel lonely when they’re around other people,” says Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, ”and you can be isolated but not feel lonely.” Loneliness refers to the distressing feeling you have when your social desires don’t align with your reality. Someone may have a close confidant in their romantic partner but still feel lacking in social connection. Someone else could interact with people all day but crave deep conversation. ... Within the overall scope of loneliness are distinct ways people can experience it. According to Chikako Ozawa-de Silva [...] the breakdown is as simple as “ordinary” loneliness (sadness after a breakup or a move, homesickness), grief, and “afflictive” loneliness. The latter “is a deep, pervasive sense of disconnection,” says Ozawa-de Silva [...] “of not being accepted or acknowledged by others.” Victor distinguishes between transient loneliness — a period of heartache that comes and goes — and chronic loneliness. ... Louise Hawkley [says] “social loneliness, it’s also emotional." In her research, Hawkley focused on areas of connectedness that contribute to loneliness: intimate connectedness (deep relationships with, say, a spouse); relational connectedness (quantity of friends and how often you see them); and collective connectedness (feeling like you’re a part of a community). Like other frameworks of loneliness, these dimensions of connectedness are not independent of one another; people need to connect in all three domains in order to feel emotionally fulfilled. “We think of those three dimensions as critical that underlie loneliness,” Hawkley says. “People who tend to feel lonely on one of those dimensions tend to feel lonely [overall].” How to address various dimensions of loneliness Understanding the drivers of loneliness can help individuals — and societies — effectively resolve it. Because each dimension of loneliness and connection requires different solutions, one blanket suggestion may not work for every lonely individual. “Simply increasing social contact may not reduce someone’s loneliness,” Holt-Lunstad says. ... But the responsibility to address loneliness can’t fall solely to the individual. Societies that value productivity and competition over the unique merits of its people breed loneliness, says Ozawa-de Silva. “An increasing number of individuals who are experiencing loneliness, anxiety, panic [disorders],” she says, “I think that’s a sign that something is really not right in our society.” To help address this crisis, Ozawa-de Silva says communities can instill values like compassion and empathy at an early age and encourage a teamwork-oriented goal structure for children. “We need to address it at the systemic level,” she says. “Maybe social education, different kinds of programs, something that would hopefully change a few priorities in contemporary societies to think about the limitations of hypervigilance and a hyperfocus on competition and productivity.” Addressing any form of loneliness isn’t an overnight endeavor. Relationships of every variety require dedication and persistence to bloom. Consider your quest toward social harmony like tending to a garden, planting seeds for a variety of different types of connection — intimate, relational, and collective alike.

[monster42069]

well as a bi gnc man to us gays you'll always seem like a conformist sell-out traitor who craves the convenience and safety of heteronormativity by seeking out a het relationship despite your real preference being men. you will always look like you have internalized homophobia so bad that you're trying to 'convert' yourself with a woman, that's the reality. you just look pitiable and your girlfriend Will look like a bff/ beard lol. the only women who want you are mostly gay-fetishizing homophobic fruit flies, which doesn't help your case. you will always look like a self-hating femme gay man with a beard, like a pair of zesty hets fetishizing homosexuality. you will never change that perception and this is from everyone, gay straight and bi people alike lol. only deeply homophobic heteros would applaud you for 'trying to be normal', everyone reasonable will clock you as a closet case. because while there are plenty of masc gay men, most feminine men Are same-sex attracted. even neuroscience implies that with there being a slight inversion pattern in gay people's brains, which makes us slightly alike heteros of the opposite sex.

the only thing you can do to stop this perception is either act more masc or date men. why so desperate to be in an innately mismatched and unequal het relationship anyway? bi people need to realize you can’t have the cake and eat it lol, you don't have 'the best of both worlds', perhaps you have the worst pick. why would a het woman be with a man who enjoys getting d***ed down? such a man will always return to the real deal and that's great, good for them. so no normal woman will want that unless she's a homophobic hetero-enforcing wench who thinks she can convert you to 'normalcy' or a gay-fetishizing hoe who sees you as a kinky sex object.

I've tried dating bi women who are gender-conforming and clearly enjoy d*** way too much to ever truly desire me despite me being out of their league. I'll never sell myself short like that again, they can all go to their ugly neck-beards instead of hitting me on only to use me and lead me on. so-called monosexual people don't owe you shit, almost no-one is a 50-50 bi and everyone deserves sb who is at least overwhelmingly attracted to their sex which they can't change? what's the point if your innate reality isn't even their ideal type lmao.

This has a lot happening and plenty of commentary on various subjects; but how is this relevant to me? Your anger is misplaced. 🙏🏻

I’m smoking weed with a faggot and ordering us some Korean-Mexican food, so…I’m too perplexed and don’t give a damn enough to give you a response on this.