#then i read up wiki articles about physics stuff

[lixenn]

Me trying to finally bite the bullet and come up with a title for the sequel: Despair, suffering, cruelty 😭😭😭 the world is unjust, unfair! I have been wronged! This is a personal attack and I won't stand for it!

^This user can't come up with a more serious title for the life of them, please pray for mercy 😔

[anthracite-writes]

Obey me! Dating Headcanons (SFW)

ft. Non-datables [Mephistopheles, Thirteen, Raphael] - SEPRATE

NOTE: These are just my personal headcanons for the undatables. I haven't met them in OG OM! yet because of low card levels lmao but I have only met them in NB and read the wiki. What I say here is what I think I think would fit them according with the vibes I get from reading about them, so the headcanons are may be very if not extremely OOC - apologies in advance.

𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙔 !!: What it's like dating the Non-datables + love languages.

NOT PROOF READ - APOLOGIES IF THERE’S TYPOS OR SPELLING ERRORS!!!

𝓜𝓮𝓹𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓼

Love Language? Words of Affirmation and Quality Time. [Hints at Physical Touch but it's all part of his fantasy]

He would definitely ban members of the RAD newpaper club from writing on you.

If there was one member that had written about you, that article draft along with all the photos are making a b-line right into the shredder. Especially if it's made-up gossip about you, even more so if it's accusing you of being in a relationship with some random student in the school or something scandalous that he knows you didn't do.

Only he's allowed to write about you, and only him.

Would definitely write about in the highest regards - praising you for your achievements as the human-exchange student.

Takes the best photos of you, even if they're candid photos.

Almost like... he's bragging for you about your achievements and accomplishments you made in RAD.

Meets you in private to avoid having any of the newspaper club members seeing the two of you together - for sure there would be a gossip column in the RAD newspaper on you two of you were ever caught.

He's a child of a extremely wealthy family - definitely hiding his relationship with you from his parents and family as a whole.

In public, he would be so cold to you, questioning why a human like you would be allowed in the Devildom.

Behind closed doors? He would be profusely apologizing to you for what he said to you in front of people, showering you in kisses and compliments about how amazing you are and how much you've changed his life.

His dates are over the top - flexing with wealth [idk, just read he likes bragging and doesn’t like cheap stuff.] . Nothing but the bestest for you.

Takes you out to expensive restaurants, shopping sprees, list goes on - and he's willing to pay for you, it's all to impress you.

Oh, he overheard you at some point when he was eavesdropping on the brothers for some kind of gossip that you favour more simple dates?

"Okay, I can do that - wait. What exactly is simple?"

Does tons of research on simple things you two can do for dates.

For more simple dates, he takes you two go for a horse back ride on one of the horses from his estate's stables on the trails of his family's land.

Organizes picnics or fancy dinners in his family's garden [obviously out of his family's eyes]

If he could, he would show you off SO HARD.

I mean like your his trophy - holding your hand with pride, a hand on your waist and holding you against his side.

He would want everyone to know you were his, kissing you while everyone is watching.

You are what he wants to brag about all the time but alas... must only happen in his daydreams during classes and Newspaper club briefings.

Loves it when you're there with him while he drafts up the next article for the newspaper or sorting through photos.

Gets your opinion on hook-lines for his article titles and has you help him choose the best photos he takes

firm believer he is amazing at photography and takes amazing photos of you two when you're out on dates.

probably has a photo of you two as his homescreen in his D.D.D, lock screen? prob the default one - again, he's trying to hide the fact he's dating you

Let's you in on gossip he's heard on the job and inside scoops on events in the school.

Def. the jealous type - sees some other student hitting on you? Oh, he's digging up as much dirt on that person so fast and blackmailing the person in order to get them to leave you alone.

Calls you 'Darling', 'Precious', and 'Tesoro'

Doesn't mind nicknames you give him, as long as you don't call him that when other people are around.

Fav. places to his you? Neck, hands, and lips.

𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓷

Love Language? Gift Giving.

Girlie is absolutely crafty and definitely not gonna let you know when she's giving you anything.

Creates contraptions and traps just for you that won't do any harm to you.

Most of the traps and contraptions are extremely wholesome, showering you in confetti, flower pestles, maybe a gift or two like a plushie she saw that she knew you'd like.

Dates consists of a lot of cafe and bakery dates.

If you can cook any pastries or sweets and gift that to her, oh she's over the moon for you now.

Make sure you know all of the traps she set out in the Reaper's Cave, both old and new.

She called dibs on your soul, will fight any other reaper who tries to harvest your soul when your time comes.

Has a special place for your candle, keeping it close to where she sleeps probably - just, you candle if very far from all the other candles in the Reaper's Cave.

Probably has a shrine around your candle, images of you and all while surrounding it with gifts and contraptions she made for you when you comeback to the devildom or when she's up in the human world for business.

Probably also laid traps around your candle so no other Reaper can tamper with your life span or anything.

Loves it when you help her with the making of any traps she's making at the moment - most likely lets you name one or two.

Takes the saying 'Till Death Do Us Part' seriously.

Once you're gone, she will never take another lover - she's that devoted to you.

Calls you her 'partner-in-crime'

Fav. place's to kiss? Cheeks, temple, nose, forehead, and lips.

just anywhere on your face is her fav place to smooch ya.

𝓡𝓪𝓹𝓱𝓪𝓮𝓵

Love language? Acts of Service.

Actions speak louder than words - and boy does this angel take this shit seriously.

He's giving me Stong, Serious, and Silent type [so let's go of that.]

Would probably drop by the House of Lamentation, sees your doing dish and just quietly takes you gently, putting you aside and does the dishes for you so you two can spend time together.

Bumps into while your grocery shopping? DW, he's grabbed the list from you and choicing the best of the best things that are on the grocery list, always checking in with you if this is the right product.

Having trouble reading a spell or remembering an incantation? He made you flash cards, little notes on the thing your struggling in, and willing to sit down and go over the spells/incantation that's giving you a hard time.

Pretty much, if you're doing some hard work - he's gonna set you aside and do it himself.

Genuinely hate seeing your struggle but also thinks it cute [he'd never say it out loud].

TBH, kinda see him l just piercing something as simple as a coffee maker not working right with one of his spears because he's worried that you're gonna get frustrated [yes, even if he know you have the patience to work it out]

But he'd definitely give a warning smite to anyone giving you a hard time or not paying attention to you when you're talking with his spear - don't matter if it's a demon, another angel, or another human; no hesitation.

'Y/N is talking to you - pay attention, please.' // 'back off, next time I won't miss.'

Not big on PDA, but doesn't mind it.

Holding hands? yeah, hugs? yeah.

Walking up behind you while you're talking, placing his hands on your hips and resting his chin on top of your head without saying a single word? yeah.

Honestly, see this guy as the type to not say much unless spoken to - not every social you can say.

You also can't really tell how he's feeling due to how straight faced he is.

Don't worry, once again - he speaks through his actions rather than his words.

Gives you multiple small kisses on your forehead or the top of your head as he mumbles how much he loves you and appreciates you being in his life.

Loves reading you poetry or book passages he finds interesting - not necessarily because he thought of you, just because.

Feels bad when he doesn't get to spend enough time with you due to his statue in the Celestial Realm.

Dates are very simple - walks around town, sightseeing, dinner dates, shopping, just basic and simple dates.

Calls you 'my angel', 'little lamb', 'human', and 'dove'

Fav. places to kiss? Forehead, eyelids, lips, and nose. [get it? they're all ANGEL kisses, yes i'm making that joke twice, cry.]

But most definitely the top of your head and forehead - all while he has a gentle hand on the back of your head and would hold you close to him/his chest after he was done planting them smooches on ya.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Arahabaki - Day 75

Race: Kunitsu

Arcana: Hermit

Alignment: Light-Chaos

July 19th, 2024

I'm sure that, when one thinks of the SMT or Persona franchise, one of the first demons/personas to pop up in their mind is that of a towering clay figure who reflects physical. A lot of Arahabaki is famously shrouded in mystery, and the clouds over this deity paint it in a confusing, albeit fascinating, light. First of all, for this DDS, I'd like to point you all to @yamayuandadu's fantastic breakdown of this demon. While I'm going to be using my own sources for the most part, a lot of the stuff in this is based roughly on her analysis. Feel free to give her a follow, even though me shouting her out is like a drop in the ocean.

Now, on to Arahabaki itself. Almost everything about this god is unknown- even its design, taken directly from a clay figurine known as a Dogū, seems only vaguely connected to the idea of Arahabaki itself through a book known as Tsugaru Soto Sangunshi, as discovered by the blog above. As described in the post, most of everything related to Tsugaru Soto Sangunshi is heavily fictionalized, as it was a series of forgeries from 'ancient Japanese history' that seems... mostly to connect to a conspiracy of ancient aliens, at least from what I can understand? That might just be the blog post I've linked, though, as information on these forgeries is scant; there are very few translations, and, in fact, as gone over in the post above, there was only one at the time of writing, and it wasn't very reliable.

According to Tsugaru Soto Sangunshi, and recanted by @yamayuandadu, Dogū were purported to represent an 'outlawed god' worshipped by the people of Tohoku, though, of course, this all comes down to nothing but a set of forgeries. A lot of information on Arahabaki can be hard to sift through, and while there are some sources, most of them are of questionable reliability. Sorry, Fandom wiki. As a matter of fact, it's believed that Arahabaki may not even exist, and after reading the aforementioned post, I'm starting to think that may be the case. Unfortunately, as someone who can't even read Japanese, many of the sources mentioned have been hard to definitely state and/or translate. It's times like this I wish I was bilingual... still, even if Arahabaki was a fake god, where did its concept originate from past TSS, and what even was it? As I said during my Alice DDS, I believe that everything must have a concretely traceable source, and besides, even if this god was just some guy's creative writing project, I still think it'd be worthwhile to look into.

A lot can be derived from Arahabaki's name- a theory purported in this article states that, as Habaki is based on the root Haha, meaning snake, Arahabaki may be based on some sort of snake deity, fitting in with its inherently rebellious nature. Other theories purported in the article state that it may have been enshrined for protection, to it possibly being a hitherto unknown god of iron production.

Needless to say, a lot is unknown about this deity, but I believe that, if it's truly a fictionalized god, it may be based on 'Amatsu-Mikaboshi,' a rebel god identified with the Pole Star of Venus and who struck out against the gods. However, this is a very far reach, and I genuinely think that one could identify Arahabaki with any sort of rebellious god.

The outlawing of worship is also of note, but from all of my research, I can't find anything about a deity in particular being outlawed- instead, almost everything I can find about it comes down to a general fear of foreigners, which wouldn't make any sense for a god who was apparently home-grown in Japan. Expanding on this point, it connects to the concept of sakoku, the isolationism of Edo period Japan that locked itself off from the rest of the world.

This brings me to, eventually, as all things do, Bungo Stray Dogs. I'm not kidding. To my knowledge, the manga references Arahabaki as a character in it, and this blog post that unfortunately uses a dead link as a source seems to paint a picture of Arahabaki as a god who was worshipped in 300 AD, but was eventually outlawed, as he represented rebellion. If this sounds like I'm talking in circles, it's because I am. To quote,

Arahabaki was worshipped all along Japan’s northern regions. He was the god of defiance and prowess and he was even used a figure for wars that would erupt. He soon began to become an evil figure in 300 AD, when a prince, Nagasunehiko started to worship him to the point where he became crazy, thinking the god was forever by his side. Being an enemy of the Emperor Jimmu, most of Japans’ people say this as a bad sign and started to think of Nagasunehiko and his god Arahabaki as a symbol of deceit and marked the god more of a devil than a sign of good luck. The god was said to look more like a creature than a human form. With large alien like eyes and a sturdy body made of strong iron, he looked more like a rock had come to life than one of flesh and blood.

I genuinely don't know if this source can be trusted, and I'll above all take the word of the blog post I keep referencing back to of it likely being a false god made up for a forgery so some guy could make millions quick, but it's a shame. I was so close to getting some sort of lead, and it ended up being a dead link... agony is the only word to describe it. I don't feel like I got much out of this, as my curiosity is still piqued... but alas, I've come to a dead end.

If any more of you have any possible sources or leads, please don't hesitate to come out with them. Unfortunately, given the relative obscurity of the god itself, and how infamous its own mystery is... I doubt I'll get any major breakthroughs any time soon. Huge thank you to @yamayuandadu and @bsd-bibliophile for the work that went into this god. Alas, I get out with only empty pockets. As for how it's portrayed in SMT, it's an incredibly accurate depiction of a Dogū- given the purported connection between Arahabaki and Dogū's, it makes sense that they would take inspiration from the clay figures representing Japanese deities, to say the least.

Overall, though, I wish I had more to go over here, but the lack of primary sources and revelations of fraud give light only to disappointment. Alas. At least it was fun to research!

[sacredartist33013]

Okay so this is my solution @brightlotusmoon

So i don't confuse everyone else. I tried sending stuff about emotional powers to brightlotusmoon but almost none of the links but one stuck. So driven by my want for a wow factor, my pettyness. And of course my new knowledge... Let's go!

Anyway i started this quest after talking about other topics and wanted a light one. Since brightlotusmoon is one of the pillars of the empath mikey community and I've talked about power's with empathy before i decided to do that. Find powers. So i found some people with empathy powers. 7(used to be 6 but i gotta surprise my friend while i can)

Starting off with the ones i talked about before. I have outburst from mha. Which let's the user cause people to uncontrollably laugh and it's so intense it dulls their motor skills and cognitive abilities. Making it great for capturing people

And telekinetic tickling from the Thundermans. Which in of itself i don't ever see. But people hate live action nick shows so there's no wikis on the character who uses it. So much so i needed a screenshot just so we had a picture of the user. The power is just as it says on the package. Telekinetic tickling

Similarly nana thunderman from the Thundermans can pinch your cheek and make you kind. And unlike Maisie she has a wiki article... In german

Moving on from live action and back to animated we have the girl herself. Raven. One of the ones i had to do a bit of deeper diving(see as:looking for more focused talk of her empath powers) and as such here is the collection of them. The ones i could find at least

Emotion reading: Raven can sense people's emotions and souls

Emotion manipulation: Raven can read, manipulate, and absorb emotions

Emotion negation: Raven can steal emotions from others, making them emotionally numb

Empathic healing: Raven can absorb pain from injured people to ease their suffering and speed up healing

Force emotion: Raven can induce emotions into other people's subconscious to affect their mental state

And now here's blue diamond. Probably one of my favorite power growths.

Aura Projection

Blue Diamond's auraThe Diamonds can project an aura around them that they can control; they can either radiate it from their entire bodies or emit it from specific parts of their bodies (i.e., their hands). Blue's aura is blue and has water-like properties (evident by allowing her to make gems cry). Though intangible, Blue was able to break Lapis' water chains from her hands upon coating her hands with her aura. She can use this as an offensive ability in both the physical and mental plane, as seen when she was able to focus her aura and attack Steven as he was astral projecting.

Sadness inducement

Blue Diamond's powers, activated by a surge of emotion.Blue Diamond can engulf a large area with her aura, causing any Gem or Half-Gem within its reach to be overwhelmed with intense feelings of sadness and cry uncontrollably, even affecting Yellow Diamond to a limited degree. Blue Diamond seems to activate this ability involuntary whenever she is shedding tears in an emotional state (e.g. joy or nostalgia), albeit to a lesser degree since she doesn't radiate her blue aura during these instances. When she weaponized her grief over Pink Diamond's supposed death, she instantly rendered the Crystal Gems unable to fight, also splitting all but the most stable Gem fusions that got caught in her aura apart, as Alexandrite came undone as soon as she was affected, while Garnet remained whole. The level of resistance to the ability varies, specifically regarding non-Gems: after being engulfed by Blue's aura, Connie did kneel in tears with the rest of the Gems, despite her not being affected by it the first time (she's also immune to it in the following episode); Lion was apparently impervious to its effects, but whether this was due to his revival by Rose Quartz is unknown; Lapis Lazuli, having undergone extreme emotional trauma, was seen resisting the aura's effect and barely shed a tear upon being affected.

Cloud Generation: In "Homeworld Bound", Blue Diamond is shown to be able to create clouds from, according to herself, her evaporated tears. Gems are able to ride these clouds.

Joy Inducement: When a Gem touches a cloud, they feel joy, which resembles the opposite of Blue's crying inducement. Blue uses them to try to help Steven feel better, though she is ultimately unsuccessful.

I would have added her laser power cause i thought it involved her emotions but the wiki says her lasers are just so strong and painful they make yellow cry.

I'll also tack on steven but just the power who mentions empathy. But I'll link his wiki page cause basically all his gem powers rely on his emotions.

Empathic Telepathy: In "Horror Club", Steven can sense the Lighthouse Gem Monster's presence as well as its emotional state. In the episode "Chille Tid", it is shown that Steven can communicate with Gems through his dreams. Steven talks to Lapis Lazuli mentally as he was dreaming. He also saw Jasper and Malachite in the same dream at Malachite's Realm and they noticed him as well. Steven was later shown in "Gem Drill" to be able to communicate with a distressed Cluster while it was struggling to form. In "Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service", he helps Kiki battle her inner demons in her dreams. This ability has primarily come to light while other beings are under emotional turmoil. "Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service" shows with Kiki that Steven can also enter the dreams of other humans, but also that repeated use of this power can physically exhaust him, as sleeping in this state seems to provide no restful benefit that would otherwise be gained from typical sleep. In "Steven's Dream", he shows a strange development of this ability, in being able to subconsciously see through the eyes of Blue Diamond, while crying her tears. This can even happen when he's awake, if in close enough proximity to her, though this may be a result of Blue Diamond's empathetic powers seen in "The Trial". In "Together Alone", Steven dreams that his mother juggles, then coughs up her hair; the nightmare then reveals the likeness of White Diamond. In "Change Your Mind", another nightmare has the Diamonds directly attack Steven, which causes him to change between himself, Rose Quartz, and Pink Diamond.

No picture this time.

And my final surprise is mind fairies from fate the winx saga(another very hated show and i guess ending off with a live action show... Sorry if Thats a wimper for every one)

Fairies with power over mind have access and control over thoughts, memories, dreams, and emotions of other people.

Fairies whose mind magic is attuned to emotions are known as "empaths". They have the power over people's moods temperament and general feelings, including physical pain. An empath can sense what someone is feeling at will, but in some cases this power is always activated causing difficulty controlling it by focusing on one emotion. With power over people's feelings, a practitioner of mind magic, can manipulate and change them. For example, they can control someone's pain, to inflict or ease it or change their current emotional state. However, when one keeps covering negative emotions with positive, the negative emotions may bottle up, and when brought to the surface, they can cause the person to lose control of themselves. For example, constant suppression of anger, can cause the anger to be turned into rage.

Mind magic can also be used to grant contorl over the memories of other beings. A user can probe through memories, erase or activate old forgotten memories, causing an individual to remember things they've experienced, even as a baby.

Some can take control of a mind entirely and control an individual's movements.

Fairies with mind magic are also effective in protecting their own mind or others' from Mind or Blood Witch magic. With enough effort, a fairy can stop the mind magic of another fairy and free someone under their control, or protect their own mind from being invaded.

Other abilities afforded by mind magic include telepathic communication which allows the fairy to exchange information with someone else.

Users: Beatrix, Devin, Duke Hammerström, Farah Dowling, Luna, Musa, Rosalind Hale

I'd like to thank all the wikis that do exist so i could rip and tear pages from them for this info. And I'll link a page on ravens emotional powers specifically as well

Also I'd like to thank @brightlotusmoon for dragging me into the rabbit hole of tmnt and empath and psionic powers. Please enjoy my trainwreck of a mega post.

[littlekiara96]

I posted... a leak...? Wait...

Are you considering a screenshot from the livestream a leak??

Official information that has been released by HoYo on HoYolab?? https://www.hoyolab.com/article/27739123

That is available on the official wiki??

That is not the definition of a leak, dear Anon. That is a spoiler, at best. ^^'

What is currently a leak, though, is the lightcone's flavor text. That is currently unavailable information to people who do not look up leaks.

And I have NO IDEA of the content of that specific flavor text.

So you telling me stuff about this lightcone's description, and asking me if I want to see leaks afterwards... Kind of a bad move, to be fair.

That's also why I've censored stuff in this ask. So other people don't read potential leaks if they don't want to.

And I'm sorry but... I don't see how Tiernan, Gallagher and Hanunue being the same person would "erase" anyone? Also... for someone who says they really like a character, it's very uncommon to think "oh, I don't want them to be more important, they don't need to be ". I mean, genuinely, good for you if you're happy with that! But that is an uncommon feeling... ^^'

Also, please read my first answer again. I didn't say Hanu and Hanunue were 1:1 similar. I said the exact opposite. On a physical level.

And saying Tiernan doesn't have any lore unlike the rest is just wrong, too. We don't know anything about Razalina either. Except that they were a Nameless and the Astral's surveyor. Just like we only know that Tiernan was a Nameless and the Astral's guard, and Legwork was the mechanic. Anything else we know about them? Pure theory. Pure conjecture. Nothing official. Nothing confirmed. Not even their gender is known, currently.

I have connected some dots. And I'm waiting to see whether I was right or wrong in my connections. Through official released content.

So no, thanks! I don't want to see or read leaks. ^^

Thanks for the ask! :D

Before I'm done for good... how THE HECK does anyone conclude that Hamz represents Razalina?? He's just a racer and that's all we know about him! Besides him being Clockie's friend and having met Miss Note (who represents the head of the Iris Family) at least once. We have NO CLUE on who Hamz was in real life. Probably the Michael Schumacher of Penacony, but that's it.

[dead-generations]

depends on the cephalopods in question. lets assume Octopus broadly as they are the most intelligent, and frankly probably intelligent enough to be theoretically able to form at least ape-like cultural groups. their two significant barriers to 'civilizationizing' are simple: They live only a year and dont raise their own young on one hand, and are instinctively solitary creatures on the other. They cannot pass on knowledge over generations (afawk) and they cannot, easily, coordinate with other members of their species. However there are significant examples of Octopus social intelligence.

https://theconversation.com/octopuses-work-together-with-fish-to-hunt-and-the-way-they-share-decisions-is-surprisingly-complex-239723

here the octopus species in question has been observed using cooperation and coercion, specifically mild corrective physical violence (slaps. yes really slaps) to convince two other fish species to hunt with it in cooperation. And it is leading them, making the decisions on what actions to take based on the information it gathers from the other species. Remarkable stuff.

https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/welcome-to-octopolis-an-underwater-battleground-where-octopus-warfare-is-heating-up/

In Jervis Bay, Australia, on the pacific coast, the gloomy octopus species has for the last decade been observed engaging in increasing social living caused by a constrained enviorment and growing population, and have been observed engaging in fighting and even throwing tools - shells - at each other. I haven't found a really strong study on this, but the fighting has been ongoing for a decade and they have been throwing things - the organization and social nature of this fighting is unclear to me.

This does indicate that in some fashion Octopus are able to transfer knowledge. The species in the first study, Octopus cyanea, apparently live about 15 or so months and mate more or less at any time of year. And according this paper https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7286511/to (which I have not read, pull the citation off wiki like a lazy bastard) "However Octopus cyanea will socially tolerate other individuals by sharing tanks and dens and with typically no loss to cannibalism or escape. They also exhibit significant levels of social repulsion, and individuals often chose a solitary den when given the option" Which indicates to me that it is entirely plausible that young cyanea learn this behaviour by observing older members of their species. Which would be remarkable in it's own right.

tl;dr their lifecycle and solitary nature are massive barriers to civilizationization, but they can still engage in impressive displays of organization and tool use and pass on knowledge, at least in some species.

Being nice to someone you don’t like is not manipulation btw it’s being civil

[moonlightreal]

Otherkin and Mythicals

Comparing the two groups. 

I tend to assume that magical beings on earth would manifest in the same way throughout history… makes sense, right?  Whatever causes it should still be causing it about the same and only the words people use to understand it would change. But reading the otherkin book from 2007 and poking around the internet today I find some differences.

There is an otherkin presence on the internet, though googles first few pages are full of things written about otherkin by humans rather than by otherkin themselves, which doesn’t seem right.  Duckduckgo delivered better results, probably because it’s less focused on selling you things.

Otherkin.net

and otherkin.com

otherkin subreddit

This article was interesting and has good links

But the more recent version of nonhumans call themselves mythicals, shifters, and supernaturals. And they’re a bit different.  And harder to search for! “Mythicals” just gets you pokemon, “shifters” gets you werewolf romance novels and “supernaturals” gets you the show.  I tried “shifters and supernaturals” on youtube and ended up on the Christian fringe instead of the magical fringe.  That was unexpected! The easiest way to track down the mythical-verse is to search for AWTOK, a government agency dedicated to tracking down and experimenting on nonhumans, that is not real.  Well, that I haven’t seen enough evidence to conclude that it’s real.  

What I did turn up looked less professional than the otherkin sites—not unexpected; a newer phenomenon that mostly applies to younger people will naturally be less polished.  The search term problem doesn’t help with finding the best data on mythicals.  I’m going to link the kinds of things I found, which I’m having a great time reading but not sure is the best info out there.  If you have better sources, I want ‘em! Message me!

A wiki and another wiki

Mythical Vale

Becoming a Human Avian

Fun with AWTOK and more Fun with AWTOK

and the marvelous AWTOK/mythical stuff on wattpad

The big difference is that otherkin mostly (not always!) were born as nonhumans but have mostly come to accept the human form of their bodies.  Mythicals are often (not always!) humans trying to become a type of nonhuman through spells or subliminals.  I’m sure there’s a lot of overlap; someone could use a mermaid subliminal to become the mermaid they feel they are inside.  So the difference between otherkin and mythicals is fuzzy and partly just different terminology and there’s a lot of overlap between the groups,.

Mythicals have a slightly different list:

Avians, winged humans

Mermaids

Nekos, humans with can ears and tails

Fairies and elves

Kitsune

Angels and demons

Shapeshifters

There are others but these are the ones I’ve seen most around the internet

Multiples, who were counted among otherkin, have split off to become “DID fakers on tiktok” in quotes, and they get their own post.  Interesting that the phenomenon has changed from being a magical identity to being a mental illness; I think the reason is simply that our society respects mental illness and doesn’t respect magical identity.

The otherkin Therians have been replaced with the mythical shapeshifters, and here’s an interesting difference.  Therians as far as I know from my reading and the occasional asking in person, do not believe in physical shifting. They aren’t expecting to ever be able to change into their animal form.

Shapeshifters do hope to someday do that, through magic or subliminals.  Have any of them actually managed it?  I’ve seen people online post about their shifting adventures, but that’s hardly evidence, and the fact that no shapeshifter has ever made the news suggests that physical shifting is certainly not common.  The more shifters there are the more chance one would screw up and get caught.

And that brings us to the different vibe between the two groups.  Mythicals have more hope.  They haven’t tried spells for years to no result and had the dream of running as a wolf shrink down to the dream of being a wolf soul in a human body. And that’s why mythicals are so interesting to me, goofy as some aspects of the idea are.  They’re full of desperation and hope and fire.

...but what do you think?  Does my read on otherkin and mythicals match yours?  What did I miss due to the challenges of search terms? 

[r0zyp0zy0zy]

Hi!! I’m new to the Haikyuu fandom but Kageyama is my favorite so far!! Can you do numbers 20 and 24 with him please? Thank you in advance! 🧡🖤

Haikyuu!! Prompt list trial

HQ!! Prompt list

Thanks for requesting! I’m also fairly new to the Haikyuu fandom <3

The other requests are in the works, they might just take a bit longer bc I’m swamped with school stuff! Happy reading :D

Words: 2400+

Warnings: possible weight trigger?, Kags calls you heavy 😔

Pairing: Kageyama Tobio x FEM!reader

Prompt(s): 20- "I didn't mean it like that, I was trying to... tease you. That's what you do, right? When you have feelings?" & 24- "don't leave me here with her/them!"

The mind of Kageyama was mostly a mystery; his skull hollow with a few volleyballs bouncing around. He wasn't the smartest to say the least— Have you seen his report card?

So, when his heart pumped 10x faster than when he was on the court when he was around you, he only thought he wasn't feeling well that day. Next was his voice; constantly stuttering for no apparent reason when he was chatting with you. Kageyama had not a clue what was going on with him until Tanaka spoke up for him, asking how long Kageyama was going to wait before asking you out. The boy in question just wrinkled his nose and went to toss another ball to an energetic redhead.

Nishinoya and Tanaka cornered the unsuspecting setter in the club room, trapping him with their looming auras. Kageyama only stared at them quizzically for a moment before a phone was shoved in his face.

"Look, dude, check out this article!" Tanaka grinned, raising his eyebrows.

"Is it about volleyball?" Kageyama asked as he threw on his uniform.

"No—"

"—don't wanna look at it then," Kageyama interrupted his upperclassmen, grabbing his bag and hoisting it over his shoulder.

"C'mon bro!" Argued Nishinoya, blocking the door with pure physics, clinging to the frame, "we just wanna help you get with y/n! This Wiki article will save you from your lack of social awareness around her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kageyama mumbled, glancing at the phone pointed at him. It was titled: 'How to Flirt with Girls'. Now, he wasn't necessarily considering reading it, but it was tempting. "Why d'you want me to flirt with y/n? She's my friend."

"She's your crush is what she is. Are you really too dense to realize your feelings?" Tanaka said. "Actually- yeah. You are. Here, I'll text you the link."

Later that night when Kageyama was trying to sleep, his mind wandered in circles thinking about his feelings towards you. He didn't think he had time to develop a crush, but here he was pulling up his phone to check the link his upperclassman sent him. He squinted at the bright WikiHow screen, and scrolled down to read the captions. He glanced at the first three options, not really reading (or caring) about 'don't forget to smile!' and 'don't cross your arms'.

The only title that caught his eye was 'Tease Her'. Kageyama knew how to do that; it was easy. He did it with Hinata all the time! He blushed just thinking about making you flustered, a wish that he didn't know he had until tonight. He didn't bother with reading the rest of the article, feeling confident in himself that he knew what to do. He threw his phone back onto his nightstand and cuddled into his bedsheets, grinning wildly.

Tobio didn't know what he was getting into when he asked Tanaka and Nishinoya about the skill of teasing. He had only wanted a few pointers from the 'pros', and some advice on what to do after you were charmed by him.

"Oh ho ho!" Tanaka said excitedly, waving his hands around as he ranted. "Make sure to insult her playfully, but always tell her how beautiful she is afterwards! Oh, and don't forget about the lingering touches! Girls love that stuff, trust me."

Kageyama nodded along, turning to Nishinoya, "don't forget to smile! Girls love sweet smiles~."

The raven haired boy was practically buzzing with anticipation as he waited at the table he usually ate at with you, desperate to try out his new flirting techniques. He smiled at you, something he usually did but he tried making it brighter. He felt his chest bubble when you raised your eyebrows at him, giving a cute smile in return.

You were wondering what the hell was up with Kageyama. You knew he wasn't the best at smiling, but when he flashed his teeth it was just downright creepy. You tried not to laugh as you sat beside him, pulling out your lunch to sit on the table in front of you. A huff left your lips as Tobio snatched away your bento, raising it above his head with a playful smirk.

"Kageyama-kun," you raised a brow playfully. "You want me to starve or something?"

"Just watching your weight," he replied, grin still plastered on his face.

You deadpanned at him, giving him a scowl, "don't say stuff like that, it makes me feel like shit."

"You're still p-pr-er, P-p-pretty in my eyes," your friend stammered, his stance wavering. You lazily tried to grab your lunch back, but Tobio's long arms kept it out of your reach.

You sighed, giving him a teasing grin before reaching out and tickling his armpit. He choked out a laugh and your bento fell out of his hand, and you caught it. Kageyama gave you a frustrated pout and watched as you ate your food.

"Serves you right for calling me fat," you said through a mouthful, cringing at your manners, "that wasn't very nice."

"You're only heavy because of your muscle," Kageyama said, propping a fist on his cheek, "you'd be good at serving." You looked at him quizzically, trying to figure out what was up with him today.

"Y-your clothes look cool today," Tobio offered, trying to keep up with his 'flirtatious' act.

"... dude I literally wear the same thing every day. Y'know, my uniform," now you were really confused. Was he messing with you? Or was he just being his usual weird self?

A blush creeped onto his face and he looked away, burring his face in his own lunch. You ate in an odd silence, occasionally catching Kageyama taking glances at you.

"Y-you're, erm, very..." Tobio trailed off, refusing to look at you. His face was red with embarrassment and he stared at his empty lunchbox, tapping his fingers on the table rhythmically.

"Go on~," you pressed, glaring holes in his head.

Kageyama perked up suddenly, putting an arm around your shoulders, "you look heavy, let me hold it for you. Wait—."

"Ok, dude. What's up with you?!" You were getting pissed now, and you quickly packed up your bento. "I'm going to my class early."

Before he could stop you, you peeled his arm from your body and sped walked away into a bathroom. Kageyama blushed in frustration, cursing at his stupid twisted tongue. He couldn't believe he messed up the simplest pick up line, the one that Nishinoya had taught him. Maybe Tsukishima was right, he was going to scare you off before he could make a proper move. He groaned angrily into his hands and shoved his lunch container into his bag, huffing down the hall to get to his class.

You sunk down into your seat, trying not to let the interaction with Kageyama rule your mind. Was was up with him today? You thought. He was usually odd, but not this odd. You laid out your things in front of you and organized them to distract yourself. You slightly jumped at the sound of the first bell, and you heard the hallway outside start to get louder with footsteps and laughing chatter.

"Hi y/n-san!" Yamaguchi said, and you looked up at him.

"Hey," you mumbled.

"What's got you all grouchy?" Tsukishima chuckled as he sat by his desk beside yours.

"I'm sorry," you sighed, "Kageyama-kun was just being a dick during lunch."

"What'd he do?" Yamaguchi asked, sitting in his seat behind you. He gathered his notebook and pencil case.

"He was being really weird. Er, weirder than normal," you started. "He tried holding me back from my lunch and he basically called me fat. But then he said I was heavy because I had so much muscle? Which doesn't even make sense, and then he said I'd be good at setting which is— I mean ok?"

Tsukishima snickered from beside you as he opened his binder, and Yamaguchi blushed a little at his teammate's actions.

"And then he told me that my clothes looked nice. My uniform clothes, that I wear every day," you puzzled almost to yourself, forgetting that your friends were listening to your rant. "Oh, he also said like, I dunno, a pickup line or something? He said that 'I looked heavy and he wanted to hold 'it'' whatever the hell he was supposed to mean by that."

Tsukki had to shove a hand over his mouth to keep himself from combusting into boisterous laughter, Yamaguchi doing the same. You frowned and rolled your eyes, turning to look at the board as the second bell rang.

"The idiot's got a crush on you," Tsukishima spilled, chest shaking from the aftershocks of his laughter.

"W-wha—," you started.

"—Tsukki!" Yamaguchi interrupted. "You told me that you weren't gonna mess with Kageyama-kun's relationships!"

Tsukishima just shrugged before turning to the board, your eyes bulging at him. "He fucking what—."

"I know!" Tsukishima smirked, "I didn't think he had any emotion for anything but volleyball."

You opened your mouth to reply, but got cut off by your teacher. You frowned as you set up your notes, messily writing your name and the date. Kageyama's actions now made sense to you, knowing how awkward he is in expressing his feelings.

After class as you walked down the hall, Tsukishima sported a sly grin. You eyed him quizzically, not trusting the look in his eyes. He smirked harder at your glance and chuckled.

"I have a plan," the blonde said, pushing up his glasses. "I'm gonna shove Kageyama in the equipment room with you."

"And so I get a say in this at all?" You pressed, glaring playfully at him.

"Well, what do you say?" He asked.

"I say yes," you said, Yamaguchi facepalming at your response.

You followed the two boys down to the gym where they practiced, and waited by the door until Yamaguchi gave you the clear that no one was there yet except for the third years. Tsukishima led you to the double doors of the equipment room and you took a step inside the dark room, turning on your flashlight.

"If you hear an even three knocks, open the door immediately," you ordered, shaking slightly. "Incase he does something... weird," you faltered slightly, and Yamaguchi nodded quickly.

"Whatever," the tall blonde in front of you said, "just get in before he comes in the gym— oh, he's here."

The door was closed suddenly, and you were left alone with only your phone flashlight to protect you. You took a deep breath as you heard voices outside the heavy doors, trying to regulate your heartbeat. What were you doing? What was your plan after he gets trapped inside? The doors opened and filled the room with light for a brief moment before the space was consumed in darkness once again.

"Hey!" You heard Kageyama yell beside you, pounding on the door, "what the hell?!"

You laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and he whipped around to slap you away, faltering when he realized it was you. His eyes widened and he was glad you couldn't see the blush that flourished on his face. Kageyama was silent for a few moments before hammering at the door again.

"Guys! Don't leave me here with her!" He panicked when you pulled his hands away from the doors, and he went quiet.

"Calm down, Kageyama-kun," you stifled a giggle. "You're only here so you can apologize to me."

"W-what?" He stuttered, body going stiff.

"Just say sorry for offending me," you shrugged. His eyes were glued to the floor, hands still trapped by your grip.

"I- I thought... I didn't mean it like that, I was trying to... tease you. That's what you do, right? When you have feelings?" Kageyama's blush crawled across his whole face all the way to the tips of his ears and he squeezed his eyes shut, terrified of what your next words were going to be.

"So you do have a crush on me," you pondered, loosening your hold on his wrists. The boy in front of you snapped his hands to his sides and anxiously squeezed his fists.

"How...?" Kageyama held his breath, as if afraid of your answer.

"Hmm, a little birdie told me~," you teased, running a finger down his chest. His breath hitched in his throat and a shiver ran down his spine when he felt your hot breath whisper onto his ear, "I'm still waiting for your apology."

"I'm s-sor-sorry for what I s-said at lunch today..." Kageyama stammered, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

"I accept your apology!" You smiled and went in for a hug, crushing his arms to his sides. "Meet me after practice near the vending machines~," you murmured playfully.

"—what are you guys doing?!" Daichi's muffled yell came through the door. "You can't just trap people in there!"

Kageyama tensed and he tried to pull away, but you held him closer. The bright light from the gym poured into the small room, illuminating all of the equipment and yourselves.

"Are you oka— oh," Daichi cut himself off, eyes widening at the sight of a girl hugging his underclassman. You peaked at him over Kageyama's shoulder and gave a shy smile, pulling away slowly.

"Bye, Tobio-chan," you adjusted your bag and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you after your practice."

The group of boys watched in silence as you skipped your way out the gym door, too shocked to say anything. Kageyama's face grew hotter and he reached up to touch where you kissed him. He felt like he was going to pass out.

"Kageyamaaaaa!!" Hinata yelled, shaking his friend viciously, "was that your girlfriend?! Why didn't you tell us you had one?! She's so pretty! Why does she even like you?!"

"Chill out Hinata-kun," Daichi said sternly, pulling the redhead away by the back of his shirt. "Kageyama-kun, be ready for practice in five."

Tobio nodded slowly, his hand still on his cheek in bewilderment. He was too excited to tell Hinata off, completely blocking out his friend. He couldn't wait for practice to end.

[piracytheorist]

frend! I have found things! namely old things that prolly everyone already knew in 2017 about RE7 (but I wasn't all that much into fandom even if I've played most RE games) that knda aren't in the wiki. Remember I mentioned the RE7 Japanese guidebook? I found some pages! and a partial translation of other things inside of it! pinned them in my pntrst here: pinterest. c o m / TimTamsAndJimJams / re7 and some translations here (there are some things that kinda read like they put it on a translator and left it as is, but idc, the starting convo is Jack talking to Ethan when he wakes up tied to the chair and it's delightfully creepy imho): residentevilpodcast. c o m /wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Biohazard-7-Lore-File-VERSION2. pdf *I suggest reading up to page 22, everything after that are articles about weaponry - also have in mind that this guidebook "was published prior to the DLC releases of Not A Hero and End of Zoe, therefore all supplemental material references to ‘Mysterious Organisation’ are meant to represent ‘The Connections’" and it also predates the Baker Incident Report that adds even more stuff like their move to Romania was almost immediately after Dulvey *there's also quite a bit of the last files about the stages on infection that reads far easier on the game files themselves that you can find in the labs of the salt mines (or the transcript on the wiki) *Page 19 has a nice timeline Ethan Winters Age: 33 years old - Height: 180cm - Weight: 75kg A system engineer living in Los Angeles. Three years ago, he lost his wife Mia in a maritime accident, and has had a hard time recovering from the heartbreak. He suddenly receives an email from his wife begging him to pick her up, and though he has his doubts, he heads to Dulvey, Louisiana. He has lived a very ordinary life, and has never been involved in sports, but he is blessed with above ordinary physical strength. As he gets involved in a mysterious incident, he also shows his ability to adapt. (so, man's never done sports in his life but has innate endurance and adaptability to handle Dulvey (I find this adorable+cool)) (it me, laa! - can you tell I love Ethan? i mean this game? ... it's been 8 months most of my obsessions don't last more than a month or two... Ethan ;_; ♥ Rose ;_; ♥)

Frend! Hi! And thank you so much for sharing! I had a blast reading through the first pages! The other pages were RE weapon lore so I skipped them XD

The beginning monologue is phenomenal. I especially like this part:

"I have a daughter in addition to Lucas here, but hey, I don’t care how many more children I have. And it’s up to you whether you are accepted or not. You don’t have to shake so much. Even if you are not, you can still be useful, right?"

"You don't have to shake so much" asdgsafadjfoi OMG. Like honestly even though I don't like re7 as much as I like re8, the creepy dinner scene with the Bakers is ICONIC. And reading that stuff, seeing this moment from Jack's point of view, is amazing!

But also, I like the few "new" details we got regarding Mia:

She worked for a trading company, often leaving home for long periods of time whilst travelling abroad, so her relationship with Ethan became strained.

So Eveline's case wasn't the first time Mia was leaving for work. And it makes sense that her relationship with Ethan would become strained, if she had to leave him back. It's probably why she felt she could afford keeping her job a secret from Ethan. She had made a big distinction between the two. When she's at home, she's herself, being with Ethan. When she's away, she's working for a shady company which probably isn't using the most ethical ways in their job. I don't know if I'm explaining it right, but it would make sense, if her job needed her to travel abroad for long periods of time, that she would separate it from her life with Ethan - and that she'd think there would be no reason to drag him in all of it.

Yet! That did affect Ethan, as much as Mia seemed to try to avoid that (by keeping him out of it, trying to warn him to stay away, etc). He had suspected something was up before Mia left for the last time ("You were right. I did lie to you.") and as the text you shared with me says, he had a hard time recovering from the heartbreak of losing Mia. Even he himself says so at the end of re7, that he had just come to terms with losing her, three whole years after her initial disappearance. Our boi is very attached ;_;

Her coming and going was affecting him - and their relationship - he couldn't get over his heartbreak when she disappeared... and he ran to get her back, when the opportunity rose. He wanted her back in his life so much. Is it any wonder that by the end of re7, he's ready to start anew with Mia, even though he knows she was somehow involved in the nightmare he just went through? He really didn't care. The canon ending has him choosing Mia over Zoe (without whose help he would've never managed to do much in the game, and yet he unapologetically chooses Mia - if you choose Zoe, he tries to explain himself to Mia and offers to send help, but if you choose Mia, he only says the part about sending help) and he sees her come back to save him from Eveline's mold, so he knows she cares for him enough to risk her life trying to save him. And he accepts her back. When Ethan Winters says wife before life he fucking means it. We call him Just a Dude left and right but honestly, we wish the average dude was just as loving and willing to understand, forgive and move on as Ethan is.

And oh, is Ethan your first obsession? My previous obsession lasted about five years - in a way I'm still into it, just not as much because Ethan Winters has taken over my life now - so considering lots of my love for Ethan bleeds through to Rose, I'm super ready to invest myself in any future games that include her for years to come. He's definitely a dude worth loving... I just love characters who love so much, you know? There's something so warm and cozy about them, I don't personally need them to be badass or whatever (not that I don't appreciate them being that, but you know), but I can't help loving a character who knows how to love. Love (of any kind) is such an important part of life, and I get so many warm feelings when that becomes such a central part of a character. It makes them feel human, and real, and someone you feel you could trust and walk along with. Emotions, dude. I love feeling them <3

[vmakkari]

makkari, the fast one ! 

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄: makkari 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐒: makkari / an eternal, etc.  𝐀𝐆𝐄: 7000+ 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌: lauren ridloff  𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌: asl.  𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐓 (i’m linking her wiki because there are a lot but these are the main ones):

superhuman speed: makkari can access parts of the world that are thousands of miles away within seconds. 

superhuman durability: makkari’s body goes through so much that she also has a natural durability in regards to her moving through the world. 

superhuman agility: naturally, makkari possesses a far greater agility and flexibility than any other person due to her superhuman speed. 

superhuman stamina: same thing as the others, naturally makkari has a superhuman stamina as she’s running around the world in seconds so..she kinda needs it, ya know. 

i also read an article saying she has the ability to break the sound barrier & use it during combat. i called it soundwave generation but there might be a different word for that! 

𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒: technically unaffiliated, but is an eternal.  𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘: doesn’t have one biologically :-( but the eternals are her family.  𝐖𝐈𝐊𝐈 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊: linked above on the skill set section! 

was your character “blipped” out? if not, who important to them was blipped out, and what has it felt like after those five years have passed?

eternals aren’t able to be blipped, so makkari was safe in regards to that! she did - however, hate watching it all happen as she and the rest of the eternals were unable to help in regards to fighting against thanos. she’s the type of person to know that she could help in a lot of ways, but that overlaying “hands off” was quite irritating for her.  for a while, she tried to hide away as to avoid to overlaying idea that all of these people disappeared for five years and no one was quite sure on how they were going to get them all back. part of her though, being an eternal, had this back of the brain stem feeling that things were going to be ok because they’d (as in humans)  end up learning how to handle or fix it. 

where are they living? are they living with anyone?

she’s living in an apartment in new york :-) 

why is your character affiliated with s.w.o.r.d?

she has no idea what that is pls i mean she does but she doesnt really pay much attention to all of that stuff other than she knows iron man died 

who are their major friends, allies, and foes?

major friends (really only friends); the rest of the eternals  allies: honestly, the rest of the eternals? she hasn’t really affiliated herself with anyone else as they’ve gotta stay lowkey.  foes: arishem if you think about it 

whose hands do they believe the country should be in?

cersei tbh 

what’s their current mental state at? their physical state?

she’s always been kind of ok being alone-ish, but she’s kind of on edge as she’s waiting for someone to tell her what to do in a way.  

VERY VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: 

okay so as makkari is deaf, please make sure to let me know (in case i forget to ask specifics because it be like that) your characters ability to understand and use asl. in threads, i will use regular dialogue quotation marks to show her dialogue as it is common knowledge that everything she communicates will be through sign language.  

[bondsmagii]

I finally got round to reading Kaktus’ second “let’s involve SCP with presidents” article and holy shit what a fucking nightmare. ‘SCP foundation want local racist sexist homophobic xenophobic celebrity to be president because other man has fucked up reality shit going on blah blah blah’. Bring back the good stuff I’m bawling my eyes out reading this I feel like I’ve just been staring at a pile of literal shit for 20 minutes but to be fair doing that would be better than reading this god forsaken article

I am so proud to say that I haven't read an article on that website for like, 9 years, and I'm hoping to keep it that way. I have no idea what the latest lists are like and my knowledge of the Kaktus's articles are what I've picked up via osmosis from other people's readings and the occasional screenshot. my knowledge of Kaktus extends to "person who threw a huge bitchfit on Reddit once" and "person who threatened me in a dream I had because I wrote on the wrong side of the Viking drinking horn suspended from the ceiling in the physical representation of their Discord server".

oh, I've also seen Kaktus described as the dictator of a failing communist country thanks to all the awards he's given himself? that also tracks with what I know about the big names on the wiki as a whole.

[fluentisonus]

Hello! I've read The Hobbit, LOTR and the Silmarillion, but it seems that you do get more details than I do when I read it. Do you do close reading? Pls I want to appreciate these works deeper but I'm stupid and I always miss on the cute stuff (like when you posted that Legolas learnt dwarf history through Gimli)

Ahh this is very sweet! <3 So firstly I have to say that my knowledge of Tolkien is actually really patchy tbh! And my reading style is definitely a little patchy too, so I wouldn't necessarily say I know a lot of the details and such overall. I guess for me I read different ways depending on how I’m feeling, so sometimes I’ll read for the feelings and the words and the enjoyment of the way Tolkien writes, and sometimes I come at it more like research, or picking apart certain concepts. Since you’re asking about details I assume you’re more after the latter (but correct me if I’m wrong!), so here’s sort of how I tend to go about things:

I do reread things a lot, and actually for the Lord of the Rings for instance I do a lot of this by audiobook (here's a link to one!), because I can work with my hands while I do it (e.g. drawing) and it makes it easier to pay attention to. Then if there's anything I want to look more into I can pause and look in the physical book itself (or a pdf online), and maybe pick apart the language or mark up the text or something. Also I don't always reread the whole thing straight through, but rather reread it bits and pieces depending on what interests me -- so for example I might go and reread just the first half of The Two Towers, or just the Mirkwood part of The Hobbit, depending on how I’m feeling, and focus on what’s going on there specifically; and then do full rereads every now and then to sort of “string it together” as it were.

In terms of details when I’m reading, imo, I think instead of staring broad and working my way inwards (e.g. reading all the way through a book very closely and remembering all the details), what tends to work better for me is to read normally and then when I come across a detail or scene that interests me I sort of circle outward from there. So I might read Gimli call himself a “dwarf of many journeys” and then think about Gimli’s history, how Gimli might have traveled before this, the ways in which Dwarves in general might travel, etc. Which in turn leads me to various bits of The Hobbit, the Durin’s Folk bit in the appendices, maybe even bits of the Silm etc etc. Which might in turn be a way that I find more interesting details elsewhere to expand on. This is also something I tend to do on a broader scale: I pick a certain character or culture or such and read everything I can find about them, and end up learning other things along the way that I can then pursue as well. So for example you mentioned that bit I got from the Peoples of Middle Earth about Legolas and Gimli: what I was doing when I found that quote is going through and finding everything it had to say about the Dwarves and reading that. This maybe isn't the best or most thorough method (and I still intend to read it all the way through eventually) but it just tends to work best with how I think, in that I like to follow the “paths” of certain concepts, and make connections that way.

If you don’t know where to find the info you want in Tolkien, like if you don’t remember all the places you might have heard it before or want to know about additional places it might have been discussed, there’s also the tried and true method for any wiki where you find a cool bit of information in one of the articles and then go down and check their sources for it, and read the text that it comes from. So if you look up a particular interest on Tolkien Gateway (for instance) and then go look at where they got their info, which ensures you’ll know if they’re just making things up and in particular you’ll know the context it came from. Especially because there’s a lot of “info” out there in pop culture articles etc that aren’t really reflective of the original (for example: you’ll find everywhere that Legolas is like 2000 years old, and afaict this isn’t even from the movies themselves so much as a companion to them or something. and like, it’s a fine headcanon for his age, he could well be 2000! but there’s actually nothing in Tolkien that says or even suggests this & I personally tend to think of him as younger).

I guess in general I would say if you’ve read those three, I wouldn’t really stress over like. working your way through a reading list and memorizing everything, so much as just pursuing what interests you about the text as you come across it, and you’ll naturally pick up more details that way. This won’t get you a broad overall knowledge right away but I think it really does help to make your understanding of the world richer and better at noticing little things, etc. But also this may not be the best way for you, since we all think it different ways!

[ittybittytatertot]

Online Research, a quick guide

Whether you're writing a school paper, fact-checking an article, or just curious to learn more, online research is something everyone on the net should know how to do.

Step 1: Get Your Key Words Right

As easy as it would be to say step one: open Google, the reality is, that’s rarely the step people are confused by. What the hell do I type to get relevant results? That’s the real question.

Advanced search tools like searching between certain dates, searching specific URLs, excluding certain search terms are infinitely helpful (learn more about using advanced Google searches here), but remember to choose words that are prevalent to what you’re trying to know. 

If you’re trying to find a word you don’t know/can’t remember you can often look up “(subject) vocabulary”, “(subject) glossary”, “types of (subject)”, to find the search term you actually want.

Try to leave out prepositions, is/am, what/where/why/etc., You don’t always want more search words, you want better search words.

Let’s say I want to look up Marina Abramović, but I can’t remember her name, I could look up “famous female performance artists,” if I remembered a name of one of her famous pieces, I could look up “the artist is present,” Or maybe I’m trying to find a piece I don’t remember the name of. I could look up “Marina Abramović flower gun scissors” and find it was called Rhythm 0.

But let’s say you want to more than names or pictures. Or maybe the knowledge I’m looking for is much more obscure. That leads us into,

Step 2: Go Beyond Google

Google, despite being a loathsome capitalistic entity selling all of our data and destroying the concept of privacy, is a pretty good search engine. But it’s not the only tool in your research tool belt.

Wikipedia, despite being infamous for misinformation, has sources attached to each article. When you see a sentence that ends in a little number on Wikipedia? Click on that. Go to the footnotes, scroll through the sources. Many of them may be available online (though watch out for circular sources, sometimes a wiki article may cite a source that cites the wikipedia article!)

Going deeper than Google and Wikipedia, try jstor, Project Gutenberg, Cornell University Press’s online database, or specific universities and libraries. Here’s Harvard’s online library! You can even search the Library of Congress if you want!

Universities and your local library (or at least County or State library) have their own websites as well. It can be hit or miss with stuff available online, but it’s worth looking, and if you end up going in to rent a physical book? Well, that’s pretty cool, too right?

While these sites may not be as neat, speedy, and user-friendly as Google, more specific filtering tools, as well as useful citations.

These specific sites will also offer more narrowed results than Google, which is what you want! Because if I type in “intersectional feminsim” to Google, I’m going to get a popular New York Times article or a random blog instead of a peer-reviewed academic paper. 

Step 3: Battling Paywalls

Unfortunately, once you find an article/essay/book you want to read, it may be stuck behind a paywall. If you don’t have the money to pay for it (understandable) don’t have the time/energy/know-how to hack your way in (also understandable), you still have options.

1. Read the preview/forward*

Often times there will be some kind of preview, forward, or summary you can read even if you don’t have access to the full article. A well-written summary will get across the thesis of the text even if it doesn’t go in depth. It isn’t perfect, but it will give you a sense if the full paper is even worth pursuing.

*This option is great if you’re just trying to fill out a bibliography for a research paper.

2. Google it

I know, I spent all that time talking about how using these other sites is the way to go! But, like I said, Google is, for all it’s faults, good at what it does. 

If you type in the name of the article you want and its authors, and maybe .pdf, you might find it among Google’s ebooks or hosted on some .edu (though don’t download things from sources you don’t trust! Pdf’s can come with viruses.)

3. University Logins and Password Sharing!**

In college? Cool! Your school is almost guaranteed to be partnered with one database or another (often multiple!) 

Try logging into one of these sites with your student credentials. The sites will often list which universities they have partnerships with and/or your school’s website/library will list which databases they’re partnered with and offer directions for how to login. Speaking from experience, this circumvented the paywall for articles/essays I wanted to read roughly 80% of the time (caveat: I went to a large university partnered with many databases).

Not in college? Also cool! But do you have a friend or family member in college? Possibly! 

Ask if you can borrow their login info. If that’s a no go, ask if they can download a pdf/ebook for you.

**This method usually only works as long as you’re an active student of the school. Alumni do not always retain access to logins like this.

4. Contact the author***

I get it, I have social anxiety too, but there’s no harm in a little email or facebook message or something. I wrote a script for you.

Hello (_author’s name_), 

I am doing research on (_subject_), and am very interested in reading your paper (_insert article title here_), but (insert reason you can’t access it: i.e. you’re a broke college student/it’s behind a paywall/you can’t access it online). Would it be possible for you to share the paper with me? 

Thank you, (_your name_)

Often times, the author is not making any money from their article/essay’s publisher. This is especially true if the text is older/out of print. Many will be happy to share their work.

***Not the best option for students who procrastinate as the author can take a while to get back to you if they ever respond at all.

***Also this works less well with books. But try asking anyway.

[aelaer]

Hmm, I saw the Howard post and I haven’t read the MCU comic tie nor have I read any iron man comics but i guess he was abusive for hitting his son toy. Many parents from older generations are fine with corporal punishment. It’s not an excuse but abuse is way more severe. A daily constant beating for no reason.

For the Howard post (here, for those who missed it), I was focused strictly on the MCU rather than the comics. In the comics for Earth-616 he was 100% abusive, no question about it, from my understanding. I’m no expert on comic Tony.

As the ask indicates, this is gonna get into heavy topics. Mind yourselves. The heavier stuff is under a cut (at least if you aren’t viewing the original post on the mobile app; fix your stuff tumblr).

For the MCU, it’s much greyer if you rely on the movies, but Tony’s memories of his father from Iron Man 2 don’t speak well of Howard’s character, though they try to paint him in a better light by the end of it. So if you only view the films, it’s much harder to determine the relationship based on only one scene (after all, everyone has bad days, and there’s no parent out there who hasn’t been cranky at a four-year-old).

But then you get a second, worse occurrence with the tie-in comic. The official MCU tie-in comics (as opposed to the inspired-by comics) are considered canon. You can find a list of the tie-in comics and inspired-by comics over at Wiki, as well as most of their summaries. (Sadly they fail to mention the comic sponsored for Iron Man 2, which is freaking hilarious if you read what happens in the 2010 timeline of the wiki. He’s driving race cars in India. It’s great. The wiki timeline is literally the only place I can find information for this promotional comic.)

Anyway, back to the serious topic. Abuse comes in various forms, and from what I can see from a quick look at Google, there is no hard agreement of the types of abuse or the number. For instance, this site categorizes six types of abuse, while this site categorizes ten types, but lumps one of the abuse types above into one category and includes self-neglect as a type of abuse. Still, it’s some reading if you’re looking for further education on the topic.

Based on those definitions and what we see in the tie-in panels, Howard would fall into both emotional/verbal and physical abuser categories - if the reader considers corporal punishment on children as inherently abusive. Let me explain, and get into the nitty gritty of corporal punishment in the home.

Corporal punishment has hugely shifted in public opinion as a parenting/teaching tactic from the mid-20th century to now in the United States. In America in 2020, in my personal experiences, the most a parent could get away with is spanking (as opposed to using a switch, cane, belt, or slapping as used to be normal), and that has been massively falling out of favor the last 20 years, especially in states that have made it illegal in schools. This is at least, how it’s seen in media; I just don’t know enough about different sub-cultures in the United States to know if it’s universal. In middle-class California, it has fallen hugely out of favor. This may be very different in the rural areas of, say, Mississippi. I just don’t know.

I also don’t know about the status of corporal punishment for children across the world and had to do some digging. There is a lot of statistics in how favorable vs unfavorable it is around the world again on Wiki, and you can see most of Europe has made it illegal everywhere, half of the states have it illegal in schools, but as Wiki mentions, it’s legal in the home across most of the world and largely not illegal in schools. I think in the 21st century we’re going to see it sharply decrease as a punishment tactic as millennials raise their children and Gen Z starts growing up and raising their own children.

I want to address something you said: “Many parents from older generations are fine with corporal punishment. It’s not an excuse but abuse is way more severe. A daily constant beating for no reason.”

In the mid-1970s it was definitely very common for open-handed smacks to be dealt out by a parent to a children in Western society, at least from what statistics I can find. Here’s some more Wiki reading on it.

So I’ll play devil’s advocate: if we’re looking at the American mid-late 1970s (when Tony was a kid) and physical discipline not being viewed as abusive by the overall general populace, so long as it wasn’t excessive, let’s say that in this panel the smack in itself wasn’t abusive. If we’re going to make that conclusion, let’s look instead at the reason why Tony was being punished and the words used in the panel.

Howard [holding up a toy car that hit his foot]: This is yours, I take it? Is this how you spend your weekend at home?!

Tony [holding up a remote control for the toy car]: D-dad, I…

Howard [slaps Tony, and breaks the remote control]: Waste of time! I don’t need to deal with this nonsense! Do you understand me?!

Corporal punishment was delivered for many reasons in the ‘70s in America; in schools it happened from fooling around when you were supposed to be paying attention to being a punishment for nasty fights to disrespecting the teacher. In the home, I suspect it was largely disrespect or things like fighting with your siblings or stealing a sweet.

Tony’s “crime”, so to speak, is playing with a toy car and accidentally hitting his father with it. Nowhere in the lead-up does it indicate that it was done maliciously. It was careless, sure, but breaking a toy and meting out a slap in turn from carelessness is a huge overreaction. The punishment does not fit the crime.

Going into Wiki’s definitions of child abuse (more official answers can be found elsewhere, I’m sure), the conflict and debate about physical abuse is noted there, but I’m more interested in what they say about psychological/emotional abuse. With the resources listed there, they note that modern definitions of emotional abuse of a child entail:

“A repeated pattern of caregiver behavior or extreme incident(s) that

convey to children that they are worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted…”

“Other examples include name-calling, ridicule, degradation, destruction of personal belongings […] excessive criticism…”

“Emotional neglect: characterized by a lack of nurturance, encouragement, and support…”

Furthermore, it notes some of the consequences:

“Childhood psychological abuse [is] as harmful as sexual or physical abuse.”

“Psychological maltreatment is “the most challenging and prevalent form of child abuse and neglect."”

"Given the prevalence of childhood psychological abuse and the severity of harm to young victims, it should be at the forefront of mental health and social service training”

You can read the sources all in the Wiki article.

With all of those definitions, and the two scenes in canon we see with Howard interacting with young Tony (this one and the film reel in Iron Man 2), the evidence provided suggests that this was Howard’s natural tone when talking to his young son.

And that is, following all those definitions above, emotionally negligent and psychologically abusive.

So one may argue about corporal punishment all they want, and cultures around the world will continue to change their attitude towards it as we go further into the 21st century, but the scenes presented in canon firmly put Howard into an abuse role psychologically at the least.

Thanks for the ask, anon, and I hope that you found this interesting and potentially enlightening.

[tfw-no-tennis]

hxh movie....2!

ruth and i watched the second hxh movie and that certainly was a movie

the title is already cracking me up lmao ‘the last mission’ THATS SO DRAMATIC. 

the first like 3 scenes feel totally disconnected like theyre from different movies vnjskdfnsdkflk

‘many decades ago’ vbhjdsfbajsdf that phrasing is hilarious somehow 

damn young netero just killed jeb bush 

ah look its our movie villains, starting their villain stuff

so i guess this is set around where we are in the series now - like, somewhere in this beginning part of the chimera ant arc where gon and killua are hanging w/kite. which is kinda funny bc they dont explain AT ALL how and why gon and killua are in this city suddenly hvbajdsfjskdjan

killua skateboarding makes me smile :’) love it 

IS THAT ZUSHI??????? AHHHHHHH MY BOY!!!!!!!!!! BABY BOY!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK AT HIMMMM HES A LIL BUFF 7 YR OLD NOW OUGHHHH HES GROWN SO MUCH...POWERFUL BABY....IM SO PROUD 

omg wing and bisky are here too!!! nen fam 

im so proud of zushi being a floor master omg....i love how the side characters progress and grow offscreen, separate of the protags, kinda like seeing pokkle again (rip tho, i think) 

LEORIOOOOO MY MAN!!!!!!! he really showed up for like 3 seconds then gets KOd and dumped in a sewer....STOP DOING MY MAN SO DIRTY GIVE HIM SCREENTIME..

ohhh so we’re doing anime die hard. kinda like the first macadamia movie 

that lady rlly just stabbed herself huh.

these antags look like theyre from naruto. main antag dude looks like about 7 different anime guys fused 

oh man netero got dunked on immediately Ls. gotta take him out so the protags can do the fighting 

gon and killua are so good. and also in love. epic 12 yr old romance 

KURAPIKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lookin sharp in a suit. also just looking depressed as hell in general. KURAPIKA ARE YOU...GOOD....ARE YOU STAYING HYDRATED??? TAKING UR VITAMINS?? I DONT THINK YOU ARE. 

also i still cant believe kp is working for neon still...it rlly feels like they just gave up on life and just figured that staying there was fine or w/e

now the 3 protags are goin full die hard thru the tower...WHERE is leorio i cant believe they rlly threw my mans in a sewer like that smh 

these guys r rlly called ‘the shadow’ thats so edgy 

also i watched this like a few hours ago but im a dumb bitch so im reading thru the wiki article for the movie to remind me what happened, and apparently The Shadow(tm) was the black ops division of the hunter association, and they were later rekkt once they started w/the On...i so didnt get that while actually watching the movie vhdakjfhbskdfn thanks hunterpedia for explaining that one to me 

wooowww so the HA rlly just committed massive, morally reprehensible war crimes and then just sealed it all in a book or st and moved on. yikes id be mad too, generic anime dude villain 

so these three rlly just resurrected a dude by going into the desert and saying ‘hey we r emo can you give us some power and maybe anime jeb bush’ and that Worked 

now kurapika is fighting the dude in the control room and gon&killua are fighting Big Dude WHO BEAT UP ZUSHI!!!!!!!!! get his ass boys 

LEORIOOOOOO MMY MAN IS BACK FROM HIS SEWER ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!! ILY SIRRRRR 

and then he immediately gets yoinked by hisoka, who is for some reason in this movie. i feel like they were like oh yeah hisoka is like, the 5th main character/antagonistic force of the story so i guess he should be here. its hilarious tho bc he spends 90% of his already limited screentime in this movie just playing w/his playing cards and smirking. bastard man you just gooo awayyyyy

seeing beans again omggggg green dude u r great

also who the FUCK is that smarmy looking blonde at the HA HQ...i hate him already based on 1) his atrocious pattern-clashing fashion sense, and 2) his smarmy aura. he looks like hes never thought a thought in his life. ruth says he might be buddies w/ging which makes me hate him even more 

gon and killua....r dating. ty 

when gon and the bad guy start fighting in the elevator shaft and killua just kinda watches hvbajddfhbsjf hes like ‘oh the narrative demands that gon fights solo for a bit so i guess ill stay here’ lmao 

but then he saves gon with his physics-heavy electromagnet elevator clamp plan....smart baby 

then after they defeat the guy they just start chatting lol i love them 

ohhh shit the guy exploded, thats fucked up 

poor gon :( more trauma for the poor kid 

meanwhile kurapika fights an evil clone of themself. wow 

tbh kurapika could totally one-up these guys by being like ‘well ok at least you have each other, im the VERY LAST kurta’ 

its strange to see kurapika fighting w/the sticks instead of the chains tbh

WHO THREW THAT KNIFE AT THE GUY IT HAS TO BE LEORIO HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

LEORIO AND KURAPIKA REUNION HHHHH THEYYYYY

they are married tyvm 

kurapika is soooo not doin well like...please get some rest

kurapika referring to their ‘new friends’ hmmmm thats probably an actual canon reference since this doesnt get brought up again in the movie. probs referring to w/e kp is doing in canon at this point 

LEORIO USING NEN LMAOOO hes like pshhhh that was easy but internally hes like owww....sir ily sm 

damn kurapika rlly stabbed that guy w/a stick huh. rip dude 

ohhh shit its those drug capsule things 

KURAPIKA RLLY TOOK A BULLET FOR LEORIO HUH. I HATE IT HEREEEEEE

leorio best dude

wow so kp has to make an On covenant OR DIE...yeah i think theyll choose the die option 

squad reunion :’) even tho kp is like, dying 

gon is such a good boy :( ily baby 

leorio and kurapika are str8 up married ty 

final battle timeee

love how at this point in the story gon only has one attack so he has no choice but to keep doing that same attack (well, the 3 variations) over and over til st happens lmao 

lmao gon and kurapika are rlly on the opposite ends of the ‘On’ scale here w/kp willing to die rather than accept using On, and gon seeking out On for POWER and also VENGEANCE 

the themes of gon’s righteous anger on behalf of others continues...

the boys are rlly getting tossed around a lot this movie geez 

hh boy gon is now...PURPLE-BLUE 

oooh killua convincing the lady to chill out was cool - tho ngl i didnt realize she was still alive 

now netero can go ham. i wonder if he’ll finish the fight or if gon will 

uh oh gon is Extra Feral now 

gon: IM EVIL NOW

killua: NOT ON MY FUCKING WATCH 

oughhh they love each other so much bro. fuck this 

gon banging his head on the ground and then killua jumping in between him and the ground....true love bro 

gon snapped out of it WITH THE POWER OF LOVE!!!!!!!!!! im emo and gay. thanks 

love how even when netero was younger he was still like, an old guy lmao 

and then the next day theyre all just back in heavans arena hbvhdahdfbjsakf who cares that the building just got hijacked? whatevs 

kurapika smiling a little and melody then smiling knowingly....melody is like Bitch I Know Youre In Love 

still kurapika seems like. not Right. pls get some therepy 

im glad zushi got to fight that guy like he was supposed to....and w/the nen fam cheering him on :’) 

THOUGHTS

its wild how they didnt really delve into the whole ‘war crimes’ thing w/the hunter association lmao. idk if this movie is canon so that might be why....they just brushed over the fact that the HA was like, running concentration camps and murdering entire groups of people. wild 

this movie was fun!! it felt more like hxh than the last movie, which v much felt like a generic anime movie. this one felt more in character. it did fall into typical anime movie tropes sometimes but the characters felt more like themselves here, espec w/the point of the story this seems to be set at 

like gons anger and all that - while it obvs comes from a place of love and kindness, he can get carried away sometimes...i feel like we’re gonna rlly delve into the negative impact of this in the CA arc and i am both so ready and not ready at all 

this movie was hella gay which i appreciate. love the gays 

all in all this was fun!! i wish there were more hxh movies lmao i love anime movies. well at least theres the musical LMAOOO im gonna watch that soon 

[tlbodine]

Self-Talk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_monologue

It has recently come to my attention that there are a lot of people out there who don’t think in words but rather in images, numbers, abstract sensations, etc. Obviously I knew this was the case for some folks, but I always kind of assumed that inner speech was the “common” or “default” for neurotypicals and I’m sort of shocked to discover that apparently it’s not? Like different things I’ve been reading today suggest that it’s more of a 50/50 split or even 40/60 in favor of images. 

This blows my mind. 

I am super deeply curious what in the world the inside of other people’s brains are like! So please! PLEASE! Come here and tell me all about what goes on inside your head and what the shape of your thoughts are and how you engage with life on a day-by-day! 

For me, personally...well! Rambling under the cut! Brains are neat!

First off, there is always a song playing in there somewhere. I think most people get earworms, but I’m not sure if they’re constant? For me they are. I can sometimes change the song, a little bit like a jukebox, but it’s always there. Right now it’s “Home for the Holidays” for some reason I cannot begin to fathom. I can shut up the song in my head by playing actual music out loud, which is one reason why I prefer to work with music. 

I have inner speech running ALL the time. I also sub-vocalize when I read (ie, read each word aloud in my brain). The voice I read in is the same as the voice I think in. That voice doesn’t exactly sound like my real voice when I speak aloud. But that voice is “me.” That’s the “me” part of my brain. The “me” part of my brain is always talking. It’s usually delivering a lecture of some sort -- a lot of my thoughts sound exactly like Tumblr posts or articles. If it’s not lecturing, it’s instructing in some way, like it’s verbally giving orders or directing my meat-vessel to do various things. I think through to-do lists and plans a lot. I give a lot of internal commentary to the things I experience. 

The “me” voice always speaks as though it has an audience even though it’s just in my head. (When I was a child, I often imagined myself as the host of an educational TV show, delivering my thoughts to the audience. As an adult, well, the internet exists, so I don’t have to pretend, I can just word-spew at you folks. You’re welcome?) 

I can visualize things, and am actually pretty good at it. Like, I can look at an object and sort of turn it around in my brain to see what it would look like from different angles (like, I could match a puzzle piece with an empty space by looking at it, even if it was upside down). But the images are rarely more than flashes unless I put a LOT of effort into concentrating and imagining them. Like if you tell me to imagine an elephant, I’ll see it in my brain in a series of glimpses that all kind of piece together to illustrate the concept of “elephant.” I can’t hold the whole image in my brain at the same time without concentrating VERY hard. 

Oddly, obtrusive thoughts are always images. 

They show up out of nowhere, unbidden and very vivid. If the “me” voice is quiet, the images are more likely to rise up. This is probably why I keep that internal chatter and song running 24/7 -- a sort of defense against the image-part of my brain that does things I can’t control. I have mental compulsions where I have to consciously think certain things in order to drown out the other thing.

Sometimes OCD brain also serves up doubts. The doubt is not an image or a thought in words, it’s just a sort of feeling or sensation that questions whatever “me” brain is saying. Kind of like how when you’re talking to someone and you can see from their expression that they’re skeptical even though they don’t say anything? When the doubts happen, “me” brain starts trying harder to justify itself, thinking around in circles. That’s when I get worked up and basically gas-light myself. When this happens I call it “getting too deep in my own head.” 

Sometimes the doubts come in the form of OTHER people’s voices, and “me” brain argues with them. Sometimes that gets very upsetting because it feels exactly like actually arguing with them, and it’s very easy to forget that the version of people that lives in my brain is not, in fact, the real person. (More often than not, the person I argue with in my brain is my mother. But sometimes it’s my husband, my boss, random people on social media, etc.) 

Curiously, ideas come as images, from the same place as the obtrusive thoughts. They just show up.  While this is happening, I am usually vaguely aware of a background process where some part of my brain is cross-referencing and connecting things. It spots patterns and generates metaphors. I don’t think them up with “me” brain, they just sort of bubble up and I translate them into words. This is an almost-physical sensation. I can sort of guide the process into happening, but I don’t really control it. 

In practice, this means that ideas (like for stories) show up as very brief flashes of image + a sort of ephemeral web of feeling and interconnected ideas. There is the feeling that this is a brief glimpse at something that exists whole and finished and fully realized....somewhere else, in some place I can’t access. The whole process of writing is exploring the idea, visualizing it, and then translating it into words. It is EXHAUSTING until I can manage to slip into flow and cut out all the conscious thought processes between brain and keyboard. 

This is also why I can’t outline. Outlines are created by that talking, thinking, “me” brain. Those stories aren’t good. The good ones are the ones that bubble up from wherever the pictures come from. 

....huh. I just learned a bunch of stuff about myself in the process of thinking that though. That’s kinda neat. 

How bout you though? How does YOUR brain work?