#online exercises

[platinumfitnessclub]

From Strength to Serenity: Yoga's Impact on Women's Health

Yoga, an ancient practice with roots in India, has gained global recognition for its numerous benefits. For women, yoga can be particularly transformative. At Platinum Fitness Club, our women-exclusive yoga classes are designed to enhance you....

Yoga, an ancient practice with roots in India, has gained global recognition for its numerous benefits. For women, yoga can be particularly transformative. At Platinum Fitness Club, our women-exclusive yoga classes are designed to enhance your physical and mental well-being. Here’s a look at how yoga at Platinum Fitness Club can change your life. 1. Physical Strength and Flexibility Our yoga…

[anna-scribbles]

if the agrestes weren't rich i think that gabriel would be the normal one. like gabe's problem is that he stopped running into natural limits due to absurd wealth and his obsessive nature led him to develop some kind of god complex where he won't accept that anything is out of his control. I think that if gabe was broke again and just simply couldn't afford to go on an international goose chase for ancient magic artifacts of untold power, if he had to work a 9-5 to live and couldn't just disappear into his basement lair to commit domestic terrorism and say evil monologues to himself, then he would be way more normal. he'd just be some guy. he might even let himself have a mowhawk again. but I think that emilie would be way LESS normal if they weren't rich. like emilie needs so many people to be obsessed with her so much all the time in order for her to function. and gabe would still have his toxic codependent obsession with her, sure, but that wouldn't be nearly enough. emilie has to be at the center of the world's spotlight at all times because she doesn't know how to exist if she's not performing. anyway all this to say I am so certain that if the agrestes were not disgustingly wealthy, emilie agreste would one million percent be running a massive family vlogger youtube channel

[siggiedraws]

Sonic is fundamentally unrelatable and unrealistic - and that's a good thing

I want to address a common sentiment in the fandom that I've seen countless times over the years - the idea that Sonic should be more humanlike. Specifically, the idea that Sonic should have more human traits, such as anxiety or insecurities, that make him emotionally vulnerable in some way.

I have always felt that this sentiment strips away what I love about Sonic so much—that it goes against his character as someone who is meant to be inspirational rather than relatable. From the bottom of my heart, I truly believe that making Sonic more relatable ruins his appeal and misses the entire point of what role he is meant to fulfill. Sonic being the way he is, an inhuman being that is extremely strong and unyielding mentally and emotionally, makes him an inspirational character that is appealing outside of the realm of relatability.

Please note that I am discussing Game Sonic for this essay, not any versions of Sonic from spinoff media.

(Special thanks to @blurredblu for helping me write this essay!)

Relatability =/= likeability

First, it is important to define "relatability" for the rest of the essay, as what is seen as relatable can vary across countless different cultures and lifestyles.

In this case, we are discussing facets of the human psyche. Traits such as emotional vulnerability, insecurity, or trauma are traits seen as humanlike because they imitate the depth of the human mind. They come across more realistic, and thus relatable to people in real life who have generally gone through emotional hardships.

Relatability is also considered with the implied audience in mind, according to Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses.

If relatability were somehow a goal of craft, then the question should be: How can a writer go about trying to make a piece of fiction relatable? If we mean “relatable” as sharing a reader’s experience, the first place to go is audience. We must always ask: Relatable to whom? Which brings us back to the elephant in the room—to call a manuscript “relatable” is really to make a claim about who the audience is or should be.

When writing relatability in fiction, what is important to recognize is who the target audience is. Sonic is a character that was initially created to appeal to a wide target audience, not only meant for young boys but for girls, women, and an older age range in general. When it comes to marketability however, Sonic is almost always advertised towards children, and this demographic is the most pertinent when we look at versions of Sonic written with relatability as a goal. With this idea of the target audience in mind, a character who is portrayed as young and having a childish temperament would be more relatable. The Paramount Sonic movies are a great example of a version of Sonic explicitly written to be relatable to the target demographic on a broad level, heavily influenced by the culture that the movies derive from: specifically a middle-class, suburban, small-town vision of American life. Sonic is portrayed as dependent, inexperienced, and abiding by a nuclear family structure who idolises many elements of American popular culture, such as Keanu Reeves or Marvel/DC superhero comics. Compare this to the games, where Sonic is shown to be self-supporting, wise, and living life as an unfettered vagabond, all without a trace of any pop culture utterances.

In other words, Sonic was created to be the height of unrelatability to his target audience.

It is not lost on me that the prevalent desire for Sonic to behave realistically ties into the idea that the goal of crafting a good character is to emulate realistic human characteristics. A character's relatability is what allows audiences to connect with the character, which is considered unequivocally a good thing.

What is forgotten in this rudimentary line of thinking is that characters in media need to fulfill a role. Characters are not people like you or me, but fictional creations made to serve a particular purpose. There needs to be thought put into what narrative role the character fulfills and why they are portrayed a certain way to the audience. Hence, there must be a reason for the relatability, instead of employing it haphazardly.

To quote Craft in the Real World once more:

"readers’ expectations for fiction are created by their previous experiences with fiction—in other words, by culture."

The desire for Sonic to be relatable can be attributed to people recognizing pervasive tropes present in their previous experiences with fiction, internalizing these commonalities as the correct way to write good stories, and assigning these to Sonic as a result. While I can understand the logic behind this thinking, it is crucial we don't limit our appraisal of media by saying a protagonist ought to abide by a certain limitation, when it's the breaking of rules, however rigid they are, that allow for different methods of storytelling. Sonic breaks the so-called rule that a protagonist must be relatable, and it's this unrelatability that enhances and strengthens the narrative in many Sonic games. In other words, writing Sonic in a relatable way can be a way to write him; that does not mean it is the only or correct way to do so.

We should bear in mind that there are usually financial incentives to cast characters as mentally or emotionally relatable to audiences. To create a protagonist that appeals to all audiences to maximize revenue, the solution is typically to make them broadly relatable. While this can be a successful formula, it is important to not apply it to media indiscriminately. If a myriad of works all prioritise having characters be relatable over what makes them unique, you may end up sacrificing creative integrity for the sake of following a trend. In Sonic's case, you would lose the inimitable appeal that makes him stand out. While relatability can be valuable in certain contexts, it should not dominate all other considerations of writing a character, especially when it is done for the purposes of profitability as opposed to earnestly conveying a character to, ultimately, tell a story.

What makes Sonic stand out

What, then, makes Sonic stand out as a character? His inhuman mental fortitude. In a wide and varied cast of characters such as the Sonic cast, each with their own unique emotional struggles, Sonic stands out as the sole character with no struggle. He has no weak point, no Achilles' heel. Though he is weak to water, that is only a physical weakness. Mentally, he is too strong for anything to affect him long-term.

As stated before, characters are designed to serve specific creative purposes. In Sonic's case, his striking mental resilience is to highlight other messages and characters in the story. This is because Sonic usually plays the guiding or support role in his stories. He is not the sole focus. There is always at least a second character that the story focuses on to highlight that character's problems and struggles, and how that character ends up overcoming that conflict, often with Sonic's help.

With all this in mind, would Sonic stories be improved if Sonic was, instead, a human-like character with human flaws and insecurities? Or would this muddy his core concept and require all Sonic stories to be changed unrecognizably to fit this new, different character?

Sonic has no backstory - and that's a good thing

Understand that this section is not an attack on backstories in general. For the most part, backstories provide insight into a character's motivations and personality. They are effective in accomplishing what they were meant to do - creating characters that are meant to be realistic.

Sonic is not meant to be realistic.

Yuji Naka once stated the reason behind Sonic's lack of a backstory in an interview: if you uncover all the mysteries, then the character will become uninteresting.

Very little information of Sonic's backstory has been revealed. We know that he is from Christmas Island (same interview link as above) and it is implied in the Sonic 1 manual that he and Eggman already know each other and have been regularly tussling before the events of the first game. These are vague and unspecific details that are not brought up in Sonic games at all, and for good reason.

Distance is required to portray a character who you are meant to be separate from rather than analogous to. Maintaining a certain level of mystery around Sonic creates intrigue, as a question is begged but never answered or even brought up in Sonic stories. This is because Sonic's backstory has no relevance on the narrative and delving into it is not necessary.

Sonic's motivations are simple and straightforward. He likes to run and go on adventures because it's fun. He likes to help people not out of some heroic obligation but because he wants to do what he feels is right. There is no need for a backstory to explain Sonic's motivations when they are plainly presented to you in such an uncomplicated manner, and what's on the face of it is just wholly what it is.

Sonic is also a character that remains static rather than having a major character arc. While he can grow when it comes to things that don't affect his overall character, such as Sonic learning and overcoming Shadow's Chaos Control technique in Sonic Adventure 2, he has no emotional conflict to overcome. He has been a fully realized character since the beginning of the franchise.

Compare this to a character like Tails, whose character arc is about him being bullied for his two tails in the past and being inspired by Sonic to be more confident in himself, as communicated in the Sonic 2 manual and his Sonic Adventure campaign. Divulging Tails' backstory is necessary for the improvement of Tails' circumstances and confidence levels to be effectively communicated in the story.

Fictional characters are narrative devices created to tell a story. They are not real. Again, there must be narrative reasons for them to be the way they are.

Providing Sonic's backstory would serve no narrative purpose—none that would serve the themes his stories and character are meant to serve, at any rate.

Sonic has no trauma - and that's a good thing

Upon analyzing Sonic's character in the games for so long, it has become astoundingly clear to me that Sonic does not have an ounce of mental trauma from everything he has been through. This should not be seen as a bad thing, but rather a well-thought-out and deliberate decision that serves to reinforce the role his character serves.

In the face of situations that would be considered stressful or traumatic to the average person, Sonic remains unfazed and even excited. There are countless examples of this: Sonic jumping from a plane with nothing but shrapnel to use as a surfboard in Sonic Adventure 2; Sonic expressing excitement that he's near an active volcano spewing lava in '06; Sonic exuberantly grinding over pits of lava in Black Knight; Sonic burning up with excitement at the prospect of dangerous stakes in Team Sonic Racing while everyone else seems to be concerned.

For Sonic, danger and near-death experiences are not a source of emotional struggle, but rather a source of fulfilment and joy. He lives life on the edge; the excitement of diving off of a plane or nearly falling into lava only fuels his love for life.

Additionally, Sonic also enjoys the simpler pleasures of life. Exploring the world. Reading books. Going on relaxing vacations. Racing through open fields. Life is one big adventure and Sonic is having a blast living it.

The idea of Sonic having some kind of secret, hidden trauma that he hides under the guise of a fake smile can be a fun fanon trope, but, for the purposes of canon and official Sonic stories, there are clear reasons why they should stay as fanon. If Sonic had trauma, it would undermine his unrelatability and make no sense given his role in his stories. Tropes such as Hurt/Comfort and Angst are ubiquitous when it comes to fandom culture, and this could be a case of those tropes appearing in the Sonic fandom simply due to the nature of fandom itself. Enjoying fanon in and of itself is all well and good, but advocating for it in canon will homogenize it by stripping away what is unique about the media we love.

In the end, there is no reason to believe that Sonic pretends or does not behave genuinely when it comes to expressing his true emotions. Sonic simply has nothing dark inside of his heart to hide. This is confirmed in Unleashed, where Sonic's heart is strong enough to resist the negative emotional forces of Dark Gaia without him even realizing. The subconscious nature of the action combined with his humility even leads him to initially think it to be Chip's doing. His heart is so strong and so pure that it is incorruptible by negative forces. This shows how Sonic's resolve is effortless and practically baked into who he is.

Sonic's internal strength is completely unconscious on Sonic's part. He doesn't actively try to be the way he is. He just is.

Sonic doesn't cry - you get the idea

It has become a hot topic in the fanbase in recent years that Sega once provided a revision note for Sonic to not express excessive emotion such as outwardly crying or sobbing.

This idea has generally been met with hostility and aversion from fans. However, this negative reaction has always confused me, and I hope to offer a different perspective to the issue.

Why does Sonic need to cry?

Let's expand on this argument for fairness' sake. A common rebuttal grants that Sonic doesn't usually cry. But in extremely emotionally difficult situations, such as loss or mourning, Sonic should cry because it is only natural to cry in such a situation.

Again, I want to challenge this notion. We could approach it from the angle of human psychology and behaviour—it is far from the case that everyone cries in response to severe adversity, belatedly or otherwise—but instead I want to explore this with respect to the narrative angle we have covered so far. Specifically, with respect to the idea that characters, unlike you or me, are designed and portrayed with certain purposes in mind.

Why would it be natural for Sonic to cry?

To help understand Sonic's handling of loss, let's analyze four examples from the series of Sonic losing someone.

In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic stays strong and composed right after Shadow's presumed death, paying respect to his fallen ally.

In Sonic Unleashed, after Chip leaves him, Sonic takes a deep breath before moving forward with a smile on his face.

In Sonic Battle, Sonic is desperate for Emerl to live and expresses this openly.

In Sonic '06, Sonic expresses a great amount of despair when Elise dies in an explosion aboard the Egg Carrier.

It is clear from the outset that Sonic is not an uncaring individual - he wouldn't do all the selfless things he does if not because he didn't care about people. He also still feels strong emotion at losing those close to him, but he handles those emotions with a great deal of fortitude. In Adventure 2 and Unleashed, his reaction is more subdued, while in Battle and '06, it's clear that Sonic is upset and isn't afraid to show it. The difference could be due to that in the prior examples, Sonic watched them die in front of his eyes, while in the latter examples, they were already gone by the time we see Sonic's reaction.

Nevertheless, Sonic feels emotion. It is only because he does not express himself in an adequately typical way that this idea is met with so much outrage and pushback. Because Sonic does not cry, and because an expected response in certain scenarios would be to cry, it is perceived as a writing mistake that must be fixed. Sonic is perceived as a bad character because he does not fit into a rigid box of socially acceptable expressiveness.

But why is Sonic acting outside the norm necessarily a bad thing? The fact that Sonic can go through such hard situations and remain positive is a testament to his strength. The fact he doesn't cry makes him come across as superhuman when it comes to mental fortitude. That is not a mistake of his character that needs "fixing." That is the entire point.

The animosity towards the idea of Sonic not crying, that he must express himself a specific way, a distinctly normal and humanlike way, is stirred from the irrational, yet sadly common, leap in logic that Sonic must behave and experience life like you or me.

There is an irony, too, to how localised this demand of realism is of Sonic. I've seen no outrage demanding that he spill blood or break bones like us. But, apparently, he must shed tears to be a good character. Sonic is superhumanly resilient while running, or fighting, or taking on the miraculous powers of the Chaos Emeralds. Chaos is power and power is enriched by the heart. Sonic's is shown to be one of the strongest and purest out there, one that moves ever on from and through the pain of loss, grief, and tragedy. Isn't it bizarre, then, that this is considered a defect to him?

The messaging of Sonic

Sonic's core concept as an inspirational character must be maintained because it is key to the emotional messaging of nearly every single Sonic game.

Right from the very first game, you play as a plucky little hedgehog, fighting against the tyranny of Eggman's industrialization threatening to destroy all life on the planet.

Sonic is small and unassuming. But he fights anyways, determined to stop Eggman. And he does.

This concept remains throughout the franchise. Sonic always remains steadfast in the face of great adversity. From Sonic CD's "You Can Do Anything" vocal theme telling the player to believe in themselves to simple yet motivational phrases—ones that Sonic himself has given to the likes of more normal characters such as Elise: "If you have time to worry, then run!"

There is even a quote on the Japanese box art of Sonic & Knuckles comparing Sonic to the Sun, the far and unreachable star in space that our entire galaxy revolves around.

We look up at the Sun like how we look up to Sonic.

As brought up earlier, Sonic is the antithesis of relatability to his target audience, children.

This is because he is meant to inspire children.

The fact that Sonic remains so popular and successful to this day is undeniable proof that relatability is far from a necessary ingredient for likeable characters. Given the fact that Sonic is such a strong-willed character, that he fights endlessly against adversity with a smile on his face, that he always gives positive words of encouragement, is it any wonder why he is so popular with children? Sonic is a wonderful role model that promotes living life to the fullest. Sonic is deceptively wise, seeming to know simple yet effective solutions to every problem. Sonic encourages you to chase your dreams, to stay strong through hard times, to enjoy life.

Sonic is a friend who is always there for you.

Not only does Sonic provide guidance to characters, he provides guidance in the real world as we navigate our lives and the trials and tribulations that come with them. Each character that presents a problem is the character we are meant to connect with, and Sonic is who we strive to be.

CONCLUSION

I do not hold any grudge against relatable characters. I love them, just as I love all kinds of different characters in all kinds of media.

I believe that coexistence is possible. I believe that you can praise a character for their relatability and realism, just as you can praise a character for being the antithesis of both of those things, and these do not have to be contradicting principles for one to have. It all depends on a character's narrative function and how their character traits – both relatable and unrelatable – serve the story that is being told.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a character whose role in the narrative is to inspire and guide other characters. From a Doylist perspective, he represents the prominent, all-embracing messaging about staying strong and positive despite all odds, inspiring and guiding his target audience.

Every decision put into Sonic's character traits serve his role perfectly. Of course this extraordinary character does not behave like you or I do. Why would he? That's simply not his nature; a gust of wind in the breeze, moving endlessly all throughout the world. A pure and positive heart who has achieved the innate desire of all humankind in a way that we will never truly understand, free from the burdens of human nature. Freedom.

Sonic is unrelatable and unrealistic. And he is an amazing character.

[poeticnotpretentious]

Oh my god I can’t believe I have to say this but:

DISABLED PEOPLE CAN HAVE GOOD DAYS!!

Just because I had one day when the pain wasn’t there for long enough for me to enjoy it doesn’t mean I am suddenly “cured from my issue” or that I don’t need accommodations anymore.

[nowavailableonline]

Imagining a world where Ninth fashion is 18th-century French style So Many Steps where Harrow refuses to be dressed by the nuns and has her skeletons dress her. The fine motor control you'd need to have bone fingers lace your corset.

[carry-on-my-wayward-butt]

i think whoever is on the team that develops MyMathLab for pearson should be assassinated and i think whoever would do such a thing should be kissed on the mouth. with tongue.

[taamlok]

if you hate veilguard but are intentionally going into the tag to look for posts to screenshot and mock you're kind of a piece of shit btw! get a fucking life oh my god!!!!

[idon-twannabeperceived]

My. Class. Won't. Start. And it's been aFUCKING HOUR

[insomniaflarrow]

20 Questions with a Fanfic Author

Thank you so much for the tag @lokimobius!! <3

1. How many works on AO3?

I have 7 so far! I've decided not to crosspost the majority of my old fics, because I'd have to do some insane rewrites to be happy with them.

2. Total AO3 Word Count?

128,483!! Considering the bulk of that is relatively recent writing, I'm happy with that!

3. Top 5 fics by Kudos

Coalescence (Loki, 251 kudos, 82k in-progress) Three hundred and fifty eight TVA cycles after Loki's unexplained disappearance into the Void with the timelines in tow, the universe begins to collapse.

Rubatosis (Loki, 121 kudos, 11k) Extracting Loki from the Loom is a success. But the experience dredges up memories of a similar event, and causes a slow but steady spiral into panic.

Nadir (Hannibal, 94 kudos, 19k) Still shaken from Baltimore, Will is thrust into the midst of a horrific new case: a killer targeting close to home. Struggling between clinging to personal morality and fighting new influences, he reaches his breaking point and, horrified by the aftermath, becomes desperate for emotional stability. Solace is found in the only person he knows understands.

Deicide (Loki, 56 kudos, 4k) Integrating into the TVA lifestyle doesn’t come easy to Loki. But when a mission goes awry, he’s forced to reconsider his shifting allegiance.

In which loving is living badly (Loki, 41 kudos, 3k) Time passes, or does not pass, and things change. Hostility melts into neutrality, which melts into begrudging acceptance, which melts into coopetition, and then there’s a terrible tumble into teamwork and understanding and far too close a unity to define as just liaison. It becomes different. They become different.

4. What fandoms do you write for?

Loki is my entire focus at the moment, but I don't doubt Hannibal will weave its way back in soon. Others I've publicly written for includes Star Wars, Star Trek TOS, LotR, and a very brief stint in OFMD. A lot of Good Omens on the backburner that I might get out there some day :D

5. Do you respond to comments?

Absolutely! It may just take me three thousand years because I find it insanely hard to convey my gratitude over text, which means I overthink replies lmao

6. Angstiest Ending?

Entirely unintentionally, I ended my collection of Aragorn and Legolas oneshots with Legolas dying in the Pelennor Fields. I thought I'd write more for that collection, but never did, so that ended up being the final chapter. rip Legolas.

Disregarding aforementioned fic, I do avoid entirely sad endings. I've definitely done some sad adjacent ones, but I'm a big fan of soft endings to otherwise angsty fics.

7. Fic with the Happiest Ending?

I don't think I have a fic with a spectacularly happy ending. Most of my endings tend to lean more towards bittersweet/neutral by default. Probably Rubatosis wins the award, just because it's got a whole load of sappy comfort at the end.

8. Do you get hate?

Since joining AO3, absolutely nothing! Everyone seems to be lovely, especially in my current fandoms. On the flip side, writing any queer-aligned content over on ffnet was a little bit more of a dangerous ground 💀

9. Do you write smut?

I don't tend to read or write smut, mainly because I read into Lokius as more of a qpr. I'm not sure if (or where) I sit on the asexual spectrum, but that probably has an effect too.

I actually really love themes that usually come alongside smut, but I tend to explore them through hurt/comfort instead. I always worry that my Lokius might come across a bit strange, because I like exploring smut-typical power and vulnerability in a h/c environment instead. But, hey, it's flavour ig.

(All that being said, my guilty pleasure is a specific breed of non-sexual kink, which is hard enough to find that I may end up writing my own someday 💀)

10. Do you write crossovers?

Not so much write, but back when I was a fanartist I did crossovers a hell of a lot! I did a bit of writing for my Star Wars x LotR art!

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

Thankfully I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated

Not that I know of. I did personally try write in Spanish a few times, but my GCSE didn't really give me enough to go off 😭

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic?

Not in any way I remember! I think the closest I've done previously is some idea bouncing, and an old mutual writing some pieces for my aforementioned crossover. It's definitely something I've got more opportunity for now I'm on tumblr, which is absolutely lovely :D

14. All time favourite ship?

Genuinely don't think I have one, especially if we're considering ship in the romantic sense (of which I have remarkably few). There are too many that have changed my life to pick just one!

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My american gothic Hannibal fic 😔 It's by far the most devastating fic I've ever come up with, and crushingly romantic at the same time. I got about 40k into it before Loki S2 swooped in and knocked me off track.

To this day it's the only fic that I'm still just as excited about as the time I came up with it, so maybe I'll get it done one day!

16. Writing strengths?

I'm decently happy with my dialogue! It's something fairly natural to me. I like to think my character interactions are fairly realistic, mainly because I draw from irl for inspiration like 50% of the time.

17. Writing Weaknesses?

I think I have a very convoluted way of writing – and speaking, which I really hate 💀 The grammar rules in my head have all mutated and messed up the order I write in. I also want to work on my prose, as sometimes I feel I'm not as descriptive as I could be.

Plots are the bane of my life, and they make me so terribly nervous that they're unrealistic or silly. I've also never finished a fic above 20k, despite having fics in the 200k range. Ouch.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

Thirteen year old me thought it was a good idea to put elvish in my LotR fics and just not translate it 💀 I read it back recently and was like... what.

I'm sure many people can do it very well!! I think context definitely can make it work.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In terms of serious fic, Star Wars was the first fandom that got me doing properly. Before that it was early Marvel stories, which I scribbled into a notebook far before I knew fanfic was an actual thing.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

While I think I'm proudest of Coalescence, Rubatosis is probably my fave. It's the most self-indulgent I've got while writing and I think that worked massively in its favour.

No pressure tagging @blackbirdofasgard, @elodiah and @thosegayoldmen, plus open tag for anyone who wants to join! I'd love to see everyone's responses!

[torchickentacos]

Been getting really into tiny pen sketches lately. I get bored of them and start new ones so I never actually finish any of them, but I think it adds a je ne sais quoi tbh. Here's a few I've drawn (or at least started drawing) today and yesterday :) they're all 2.5 x 2.5 inches. They are not great, but they are small and I love them

[rohirric-hunter]

The more I play online games the more I understand and kind of agree with all the boomers I know refusing to let their kids play online games until they hit 17. I'm not a parent, but if I was I wouldn't want my kids interacting with people like that either.

[exteenpopstar]

theres this dialect i would call McGraw Hill Plain Language where your textbook is trying to "simplify" the subject but actually makes it more opaque and hostile to understanding

[unironicallytes]

sharp-as-night is my queerplatonic husband and we go on fishing trips together i will not be taking criticism at this time

[unironicallycringe]

I know everyone on Tumblr and Twitter regards people who are 25+ or god-forbid 30+ to be in fandom for nefarious purposes only and should be doing adult things like having a shitty 9-5 office job and then getting home and staring at a beige wall.

I'm here to tell you that my experience being 30 is largely unchanged from being 20, except I now have better communication and empathy skills from years of therapy and also from gazing into the void. Also I have more bills and stress, which means I value my time being able to enjoy a hobby like playing with metaphorical Barbie dolls.

Also, I can offer you such gems of lived-experience advice like "you may have a quarter-life crisis in your twenties as adulthood comes stampeding over you, it will suck absolute ass but you are not alone and you can do this."

Anyways shout-out to the age range who are not-elders-but-regarded-as-such-online-for-some-reason. I met a 60+ person playing my cool new gardening sim game and he's legit af. I am baby compared to that guy and he's still vibing. You're allowed to be part of online communities at any age as long as you respect the people around you.

[saskia-mae]

things to do instead of doomscrolling on social media🌷

language learning - apps such as Duolingo are perfect for bitesized language lessons that you can fit easily into your life- I'm currently learning German and Arabic on Duolingo.

clear your email inbox - if you're like me, your email inbox is full of emails (bad habit I know), so spend a few minutes each day sorting it out. it's just as important to have a tidy digital space as it is to have a tidy physical space.

journal - I love to journal to vent my feelings, but I also love to be creative, I've used things such as wrapping paper, receipts, ribbon and clothes tags in my journal to create interesting pages

read - I love finding a book I can read and get lost in, its the best feeling to read for hours just engrossed in a book.

play puzzle games - I have a few puzzle/logic games on my phone and iPad, and it makes me feel less guilty for being on my phone if I'm playing one of these games that's good for your brain

colouring books - this is a really simple way to keep yourself occupied, and is something relaxing you can do before going to sleep. there are also colouring apps you could download on your phone or tablet which is a more portable option.

paint your nails - I love painting my nails and learning how to do nail art, it's such a valuable skill.

read an article from The Guardian long read - these articles are so interesting and on a range of subjects, I highly recommend them. you can find them here: The long read - The Guardian 

read articles from The European Correspondent - these articles are so useful for keeping up to date about everything happening in Europe, and you can read about specific regions as well. you can also sign up for their daily email newsletter which is fascinating. you can find it here: The European Correspondent

do an online course - you can find a huge variety of courses online, from websites such as Coursera and from many universities as well.

go for a walk - getting outside for some fresh air is always a good idea, and even a 10 minute walk is 10 minutes that you're not scrolling, it all adds up.

I hope you find this useful! I know it's been forever since I've posted on here, but I'm going to try to post more often.

[fangsandsoftgrass]

Not tagged but inspired by @madamefluffnstuff 's post for @lathepoquerose 's sujamma sundas!!! 3-5 quotes from your OC :3 ofcofcofc I'm doing my beloved Cirwedh 🫶 also I wanna tag @pocket-vvardvark @aviel-the-trans-bucket @aanthirin & @sanza-17 if you've already been tagged np!! Ily mwah mwah

1. "-and I thought I was nutty, this guy was a Graht squirrel's nest-dream!"

2. "Y'ffre guide me."

3. "My whole life I've known I was meant for something bigger... Something more. The others could never hear it—the Green calling like I did—but I heard Y'ffre before I heard my own mother, and until my bones join the earth I'll follow that call."

4. "I'm not a hero, so get that thought out'a'yer head. You can call me Cirwedh, and if there's people in need my bow is yours."

5. "...b'neath my ribs beats a heart that calls your name, and so long as there's breath in my lungs I will sing my love to you."