#which isn't a big deal but I'd like to avoid that

[zoobus]

Is there a way to permanently block recurring site elements that slightly differ in coding on each iteration?

For example,

I can keep using the ublock element zapper to kill this instance of tumblr's app beg, but that just means I (probably) won't see it on this particular blog, not that I won't see this message ever

Another one that really bothers me is the delayed heart fluttering thing every single recipe blog has these days:

Is it possible to get rid of this shit short of disabling JavaScript altogether?

[vexis-world]

“You can't seriously be that dumb..!”

💗 Clarisse la rue x daughter of Apollo!reader one-shot 💗

Authors note: hi reader!! This is my first fan-fiction post so I'd love any constructive criticism to help improve my writing for the future! This is not beta read so it's far from perfect - but I hope you will still enjoy it nonetheless :)) Ty for reading! 🫶

Short summary: Clarisse has some doubts about your "relationship" and seeks you out to speak about her worries.

Word count: 940ish words!

Clarisse’s mind was swarming with thoughts; it always does when she trains alone. She thinks best in the training arena, it's in her blood after all. You and her had been in a relationship for almost 3 months now and hadn't kissed yet. Which isn't a big deal! Clarisse doesn't mind, at least that's what she tells herself. But this is her first relationship, and she doesn't have anyone to unload this onto. To ask advice without having to reveal too much about herself, and her most private fears. She knew that you wanted to take things slow. Although it was not confirmed by words, Clarisse could (in her opinion) read her ‘girlfriend’ well. However when was slow, too slow? Were you having mixed feelings all of a sudden? And if so why had this not been brought up? Clarisse believed that you two were close, as ones in a romantic partnership should be; but perhaps not as close as she had originally thought.

Clarisse took large and fast steps, speed walking over to you. People moved out of her way, they could tell it was urgent and that they shouldn't mess with Clarisse at this moment. Or any moment for that matter.

“Hey Clarisse!” you spoke enthusiastically, finishing up a patient in the infirmary. “Pretty girl, explain something to me.” Clarisse's words make you blush, faintly; you had mainly gotten used to her flirty remarks these past few weeks, but she always manages to catch you off guard, every once in a while. “Ok.. what's up?” you asked, in a nervous tone. You could clearly see the distressed look on the girls face. “It's sort of private, can we speak in the back?” this added to your nerves, clarisse was usually never this off. “Of course, is everything okay?” but before you could finish your sentence, clarisse had already walked over to the back of the infirmary and into the supply area.

The supply closet was cramped with the both of you in there. Clarisse had to push up against you with an arm over your head for you two to fit somewhat comfortably. “Clarisse, is everything okay?” you asked again, this time hoping you would get a straight forward reply. “Do you.. Have you um..” clarisse stuttered avoiding your concerned gaze. “Have you lost feelings for me or something?” she finally mutters. You spent a minute gathering up your words, to find a way to reply. You bit your lip with furrowed brows, before the words fully processed and then said. “What..?” Clarisse had a strange expression on her face. “It's been three months and we haven't kissed or held hands in public. We don't go on proper dates. I feel like you don’t like me” she says quickly with an eye-roll included. “Clarisse, what are you on about..? Why would we kiss?” you asked hesitantly. “Why wouldn't you? Were in a relationship, isn't that kinda the norm?” This left you frozen. You were shocked, obviously but also majorly embarrassed. Had you been in a relationship without even knowing it? And to your crush no less. Fuck. “.. relationship?” you said nauseously, with butterflies in your stomach. “Clarisse, is this some sort of sick joke..?” you added, with shallow breaths. The room was getting stuffy and suffocating. “What do you mean sick joke? Have I ever lied to you? Are my feelings a joke to you? Is that it? Forget it. If I make you this fucking sick then good thing you're in the infirmary. I'm leaving, let's not talk for a while, 'kay?” she pushes past you. since you two were practically melted into one another, you could feel how she'd gotten warmer and how her heart rate had gone up significantly. You try to go after her but just as you do, your brother, Will asks you to tend to another patient that had just come in. He calls over his shoulder. “trouble in paradise? Gonna have to wait, I'm afraid - I need some help over here!” leaving you even more puzzled.

An hour or two goes by since you spoke with clarisse, and she’s consumed your thoughts entirely. You decided to speak to her at dinner and try to resolve whatever happened earlier.

“Clarisse, can we talk? Again..” you whispered, almost begging. “Kinda busy. We’ll talk later.” clarisse brushes you off to finish scraping her offerings into the fire. “Please clarisse. I need to speak to you. Just for a second.” you plead. “Two minutes. Two, that's it.” clarisse says, her eyes finally looking up from fire to the now very interesting sky. “Thank you.” You sigh and lead her away to a more secluded area as she had done with you. “I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. And they're not a joke to me. I'm just confused. What did you mean by relationship?” Clarisse replies by saying “what do you mean, what do i mean? We're dating, aren't we?” you take a pause, dumbfounded for the second time today. “Since when? Don't take this the wrong way but.. I don't remember you asking me to be your.. Um.. girlfriend.” your voice is wobbly and uncertain, you try your best to make your words seem kinder, as to not offend clarisse again. “Well, I guess I never asked but.. Oh.” Clarisse's words end as she parts her lips. She's realised her error. And so had you. You let out a breathy chuckle and say “maybe this time you should actually ask me.'' Clarisse looks at you with much more confidence now, her infamous sly grin back on her perfect face. “Maybe that would be best, sweet girl.”

[the-modern-typewriter]

Hello! Would you be able to do a hero x villain scene where the villain catches the hero doing something he's not supposed to and the villain uses that to blackmail the hero? I love your snippets, i could literally read them all day like a book lol

"Tsk. Tsk. What have we here?"

The hero froze. They ran through a million different versions of how screwed they were. Then, they swore quietly, and turned. "Is there any small chance that you're not going to make a big deal out of this?"

"You graffitiing the side of parliament? On-" The villain's gaze raked over the colours, the style, clearly matching it to the other acts of vandalism that had been making the news of late, "-multiple occasions." Their eyes it up. "Oh, they'll have your head, hero."

The hero's stomach sank. It wasn't even an exaggeration. "So no biggie. Right? You love a bit of chaos?"

The villain smiled. It was not a comforting smile.

The villain might appreciate chaos, but not so much as power.

The hero folded their arms across their hoodie, like that would somehow cover the bloody scrawl of 'inaction in the face of evil is evil, you bastards' behind them. It was complete with a rendition of the head minister's face with a moustache and devil horns and a list of the dead.

"Why are you even here?" they snapped.

"Consulting with him of the devil horns."

"Of course you bloody are."

The villain shrugged. "This administration is evil, as you say. It's very convenient. They're oh so eager to get me on board, yada yada."

"You in government?"

"Mm. It's horrifying, isn't it?"

Horrifying seemed like too mild a word. The villain was already powerful, with legal and official backing - however unjust - they would be unstoppable. Never mind that...

They were probably using the villain. Or, at least, trying to. The idiots didn't realise that the villain was a different sort of beast entirely; difficult to tame, malice not contained to cabinets and board rooms and cruel detachment. Or, maybe, they knew but were simply too greedy for what the villain could give them.

There was no way it would end well either way.

And now...

The villain's smile broadened, at the hero's expression.

"Relax, hero," the villain said. "I won't tell anyone."

"...you won't?"

"Not if you do a little something for me."

The hero stared at the villain, flat.

"Oh, come now," the villain purred. "I'm being nice."

"By blackmailing me?"

"By giving you a chance to avoid being executed on the front steps. By not instantly taking away the last hope that all these poor..." The villain swept forward, "downtrodden," they captured the hero's chin, "peasants have."

Their eyes met. The hero swallowed.

It didn't need saying that the villain could. Which meant that whatever they were after must be awful, for them to give up the chance of their ultimate victory, of the chance to get rid of the hero forever.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I have no doubt you're aware of the dance tomorrow."

"The one that costs an obscene amount of money that could be used on public infrastructure or the welfare of people who live here."

"That's the one," the villain cooed. "Come with me."

"Excuse me?"

"Come with me to the dance."

"As your accomplice to what?" The hero's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to kill them all, are you?"

"As my date."

The villain dropped their chin.

There was a long pause. The villain was implacable. The hero was having some sort of internal seizure. Emotional whiplash. Possibly an existential crisis.

"...you're blackmailing me to be your date."

"Astute observation."

"I notice you didn't say you weren't going to kill them all."

"I notice you didn't say no."

"Well," the hero huffed, face hot. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"I was half-expecting an 'I'd rather die', I'll admit."

"I mean, it was a close shout. It is..." They looked the villain up and down, then quickly looked away from the disgustingly perfect body. "You."

The villain smiled again. Wild. Savage. No politician's curve of the lips.

The hero wet their dry lips, resisting the urge to clear their throat. "And if I do this...you won't tell anyone about..." They waved a hand at the wall. "I have your word?"

For what is was worth, and the hero had never expected it to be worth quite so much, the villain always kept their word. Unlike some people.

"You have my word."

The hero felt dizzy as the adrenaline in them bottomed out. Shaky. They realised abruptly how clammy their hands were around the cans.

It still seemed too easy. The villain could have finished them. It was a stupid, ridiculous thing to be murdered for...but exactly the kind of thing the current administration didn't tolerate. That along with free speech, empathy and the other hallmarks of a caring society.

The villain turned to look at the vandalism, attention roaming over the names, the words. It was impossible to tell what they were thinking.

"Go on then," the villain murmured. "Finish up."

"You're going to watch?"

The villain didn't deign that with a response. The hero tried - and failed - not to feel self conscious as they got back to work. They'd, for obvious reasons, never had an audience before.

After what it had cost, though, they couldn't leave the job half done.

They felt the villain's eyes on them the whole time, intent and electric. It made the hero feel like they were stripping.

By the time they were done, the hero's hand was shaking.

"Very good." They felt the villain's chest pressed against their back, their breath against the hero's ear. "Remember to wear something pretty for me."

Then, they were gone.

The hero had to get out of there.

[toxicpineapple]

writing tips masterpost

hello to my loyal tumblr followers... i am often asked to give writing advice but usually when people ask me this i'm nooooot completely sure what to say despite having a ton of advice to give. it's such a broad question when there are so many different things i can advise on, right? so i thought i'd make a sort of writing advice masterpost where i can compile the tips that i think people specifically in fandoms could benefit the most from hearing, OR that i wish someone had told me when i was still finding my footing as a writer.

hopefully this will be helpful to you. i am putting all of the advice under a read more since this is going to be a long one. let's roll!

✬ paragraph breaks are your friend

the fastest way to get me to stop reading a fic is if i click in and see that there are NO paragraphs made and the entire piece is in a huge block of text. no matter how good your work is, i just can't read it at that point. the giant paragraph makes me get lost, i can't focus on anything... it's a huge no.

the trick is you want your paragraphs to sort of act as a guide for your reader, taking them through the story, keeping them engaged. do not be afraid to do short paragraphs! i can understand wanting to shy away from one or two sentence paragraphs for fear of not having "enough substance" in your work, but the truth is, a thousand short paragraphs is ten times easier to read than a huge block of text.

realistically, you want to have a good amount of variety in your paragraph length. variety is key. readers will notice when your work gets formulaic, and some people will like that, but for others that can turn people away from your work. but don't force it! a paragraph should end at the end of a statement, or if the paragraph is getting too long then cut off the thought and continue in the next paragraph with a transitional phrase.

as a general rule of thumb, you want lines of dialogue by different speakers to be put in separate paragraphs. you also want to avoid doing huge chunks of narration or exposition in the same paragraph as you introduce a new speaker. just make a new paragraph! no big deal. i guarantee you your reader will be way more engaged and nobody is going to come at you for doing more rather than less.

✬ make sure the reader knows who is speaking and when

you don't have to end off every line of dialogue with "she said" and in fact i would really recommend you don't. but you ALWAYS need to have some kind of indication in the text as to who is speaking, otherwise the reader can get lost.

this doesn't necessarily mean that you always have to explicitly say who is saying what, though. if it is obvious in a scene who is saying something -- so for example, a scene where there are only two characters talking OR the dialogue has some kind of phrase, statement, etc that makes it obvious who the speaker is -- then in that case you can just let the dialogue speak for itself. sometimes in writing less can be more. you disrupt the flow of a scene if you start to exposit unnecessarily when the reader could reasonably work something out for themself.

✬ "said" is your friend too

related to the last piece of advice, here's another note: don't shy away from using the word "said".

don't overuse it, either. obviously, you don't want every single line to be "he says" "she says" back and forth, especially when they might be asking questions or shouting, in which case the word "said" probably isn't all that applicable at all. but it's a nice default. if you catch yourself busting out the thesaurus, my recommendation? quit it. just use said. it's not going to hurt you and the reader isn't going to mind.

but yeah, in the event that a character is raising their voice, whispering, inquiring -- there are tons of other words you can use in lieu of said and then an adverb. it's just context-dependent, and also, you don't really want to lean too far one way or another. like i said, variety is key. too much of the same breaks immersion.

✬ if you wouldn't say it yourself, probably don't use it in writing

another related tip. look, i get it. you want to spruce up your writing with synonyms. but the fact of the matter is that a lot of these words that "mean the same thing" on paper actually have wildly differing connotations and if you don't understand what those are you're going to look kind of silly whipping out a word you just found off the internet. we can usually tell, too.

your vocabulary will naturally grow and expand as you continue to read and learn. you don't have to try and force it to seem smarter in your writing. people who can write compelling prose and dialogue without throwing in fancy words they barely understand look a lot more intelligent than people who have a thesaurus at the ready 24/7.

✬ if there's a simpler way to say it, take it

this one can be sort of style-dependent, so if it's not your cup of tea then feel free to take or leave this tip, but in my opinion, taking a whole seven-line paragraph to describe a simple action wastes both your and the readers' time.

how many times have you read a fic where the main characters are having a conversation with these long rambling paragraphs between lines of dialogue? sometimes this makes sense! if you were writing a death note fic it would absolutely make sense for light or L to be pausing every few seconds to carefully analyse their opponent's move... but that's not always the case. sometimes characters are just making small talk.

i'm not saying you can't show off. you should show off where applicable. but there's a time and place. sometimes a scene benefits more from you taking the easy way to describe something and moving on. flowery language is great, but if you're meandering too much the reader will lose interest and attention.

✬ a metaphor is useless if nobody knows what it means

writing is subjective and highly personal. write for yourself first and foremost, and use the metaphors that feel right to you -- but the best metaphorical pieces, to me, are the ones that people can understand and identify with.

you've read a story like that, haven't you? with a reoccurring theme or motif that comes back into play at the end in a way that makes you feel so satisfied and complete? THAT'S what you aim for with literary devices like that. if you write a story that nobody can understand, with metaphors that just don't make any sense -- then you haven't really successfully told a good story, have you?

i understand wanting to have a magnum opus. i think it's easy to fall into the "misunderstood writer" mindset where you want your pieces to be so magnificent that only the likeminded will get it -- but writing is a form of communication. metaphor is just another means with which we can illustrate how we feel. you WANT your readers to understand what you're doing with the metaphors, you WANT the people who step away from your story to know what you were trying to say. you don't have to be obvious, just make it good. make it something that can be reasonably drawn from the text.

at the end of the day flowery language is just flowery language. that doesn't actually make your story good.

✬ grammar intermission

(.) period/full stop: used at the end of sentences. oftentimes not used at the end of sentences in dialogue, because lines of dialogue are considered a fragment of a larger sentence. use a period/full stop at the end of a line of dialogue if the dialogue is followed up by another complete sentence. example:

"i just went to the store," he said, scratching his head.

"i just went to the store." he scratched his head.

(,) comma: used in the middle or to separate different clauses (parts/sections) of sentences. used for incomplete clauses, AKA sections of the sentence that could not function as individual sentences. also used to indicate a slight pause. example:

she reached for the ripest banana, plucking it from the bunch.

a comma can also be replaced by a conjunction like "and" or "but". example:

she reached for the ripest banana and plucked it from the bunch.

(;) semi colon: used to separate different complete clauses in sentences, AKA sections of the sentence that are related but COULD function individually as their own sentences. example:

he sighed as he looked out the window; it had been so long since he stepped outside.

not to be confused with

(:) colon: used at the end of a line that leads into or introduces another line. example:

his fingers drummed restlessly against the window sill. it was finally happening: he was finally leaving this place.

(-) hyphen: used to connect compound words like three-years-old or hyphenated surnames like jones-smith.

(–) en dash: used to indicate ranges of time or distance, like 3–4 hours.

(—) em dash: a girl's best friend. slash j. but an em dash is used to indicate a few different things: an abrupt end to a thought or sentence, a "cut-in" where you interject something tangentially or unrelated before returning to the original thought, or a diversion in the sentence/thought. examples:

"no, listen, you don't understand—"

he scowled—an ugly look on his usually handsome features—and told her to be quiet.

it's not like she had wanted it to go that way—but when had it ever mattered what she wanted?

(()) parentheses: used to add additional context, information, or a semi-unrelated thought that would break the flow of an ongoing sentence without completely taking the reader out. example:

"no, i'm sorry. i just forgot to call you this morning," he said, looking away. (in truth, he'd sat by the phone for fifteen minutes trying to psyche himself into it, but hadn't been able to muster the courage.)

✬ show don't tell, and tell don't show

show don't tell is one of the classic pieces of writing advice that i do, often, think is correct -- but it's a little more nuanced than just never telling your readers what a character is thinking. you want the work to speak for itself without you implanting messages or themes into the reader's brain. at the same time though you don't want them to be doing too much work because it breaks immersion.

this ties into what i was saying above about simpler being better sometimes. you want to be concise especially in scenes that might call for it. a fight scene should be quick and snappy. no need to dig into the physical sensation of being enraged -- just say the character is pissed! but if a character is having a meltdown or panicking, you can get SO much more out of describing how that feels than just outright saying it.

✬ remember your perspective

another huge thing with show don't tell is that you don't want your character to be able to objectively say what everyone else is thinking and feeling -- unless that makes sense for them within the context of the story. really dig into it. DOES the character have a reason to know what their opponents, friends, etc are thinking? how well do they know the other characters? how attentive are they to the emotions of those around them?

it's better to focus on descriptions than labels in that case. say what face a character is making, describe their body language or tone. your character can have impressions, just make it clear that those ARE their impressions. and let your character be wrong! they do not have to be a completely objective source of information.

✬ when it comes to representation, if you aren't confident you can do it well, don't do it at all

i'm one of those people who's kind of of the opinion that white or cishet or otherwise systemically advantaged people have no place being the loudest voices in conversations about representation, least of all AS the representatives. if you are someone with systemic privilege and you choose to portray someone who is oppressed -- that's not necessarily a bad thing. but you need to be willing to do your research and have a sensitivity reader, and you have to be ready for people to say you did it wrong.

not much else to be said about that. your voice on the matter isn't actually all that important. there are people from the demographics involved who DO have stories to tell about themselves that will be MUCH more valuable than your perception of them, so it's honestly better to just let them tell it. that's how i feel.

✬ don't break the rules unless you know how to follow them. in other words, your rebellion should be obvious

a lot of times i see people breaking grammar or other rules and citing "stylistic" choices as their reasons why. which is all good and well, to an extent -- but you want it to be very clear that you ARE breaking the rules on purpose in a way that adds to the artistic merit of your piece.

if you don't know the rules, then it really just comes across like messy work. you both have to know how to apply the rules, and also how to break them in a stylistically significant way. if it doesn't make sense for the rules to be broken, if it says nothing... it's honestly better to just follow them. that's my take.

✬ don't be scared of names and pronouns

i said before that you want variety in your work, and that is very very true -- but it's also true that certain words like names, pronouns, etc will sort of blend into the background in writing. people don't notice them. that means if you're using a name or pronoun a lot in a scene to make it clear who exactly is being referred to...

hey. look into my eyes. breathe. it's okay. you do not have to resort to highlighting arbitrary characteristics of the characters. i know. just breathe. it's okay. use their names. they have them for a reason. it's all good.

this isn't to say that you SHOULDN'T do that, just do it when it makes sense to. if height is something the characters are noticing then use "the shorter boy". if age is relevant, eye colour, hair colour, whatever -- go ahead and use them. but don't be excessive with it. i should not be having to read the bluenette more than i'm reading shuichi's actual goddamn name.

✬ read

this is the huge one. reading other works informs your writing. it teaches you skills and tricks you can use. it helps expand your dialogue and your world view. it might even highlight to you things you do too much of in your own writing. read, all the time, whenever you can. it doesn't have to be books. it can be fanfic, articles, whatever -- just keep reading, because you will be passively absorbing knowledge during that time and it'll help you grow as a writer.

✬ practice

BOOOOOO TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO! SHE SAID THE THING SHE SAID IT!

but listen, it's literally just true. i write almost every day for at least a couple of hours and i have been on a trend of consistent growth for the past five years. go read my fics from 2019 if you don't believe me. i've grown fast and i've grown constantly. you just DO grow through constant practice, even if it doesn't always seem that way.

not only that, but you start to build confidence too. writing a lot helps develop those muscles to a point where you start to realise that you ARE that good and you DO have that dawg in you. or whatever. you just have to keep at it. you're not going to magically improve thinking for six months about how you want to be a better writer without practicing anything about it.

✬ yeah, betas are good

you want to have a good editor. i know that that can feel like having someone ELSE be the reason your piece is good, but that's genuinely not it. a beta reader is a second pair of eyes on your work, someone who can tell you about the issues and mistakes you're missing. they'll tell you when something doesn't make sense. they'll point out your punctuation errors. you don't NEED to have a good editor for every crummy little oneshot... but it's good to have one.

✬ numbers are fine and all but don't compare yourself to other people

i think almost everyone in some kind of creative pursuit wants to get some kind of acknowledgement for it. we want to be the best we can be, and it can be discouraging to receive utterly no validation along the way! i get it!!

just don't get caught up in crunching the numbers. you are not as good as your fanbase is. you alone know your skillset and you absolutely should not say "well this other writer got THIS much attention" because that'll just wear you down. it really will. external validation will only keep you going for so long, and you'll always end up needing more. you HAVE to build your own personal confidence first or you'll crash and burn.

✬ read your writing out loud

there is no quicker way to see if something is wonky in your prose than reading it out loud and seeing if it makes sense verbally. i highly recommend this to anybody who struggles with sentence flow. it's a good one.

✬ yippee hooray!

🥰 and that's what i've got for now. thank you if you made it this far, please take all these tips as you will, it is all subjective of course, these are just the tips that help Me the most when i sit down to write something.

please feel free to ask me for additional advice (on specific topics if you could!) at any time, i love encouraging new writers and i am passionate about writing so i will gladly offer support in any way i can, including beta reading works for anybody who might need that.

take care now 💖

[transgenderteensurvivalguide]

Hey I just got my first period and I'm so fucking dysphoric about it what do I do I'm so confused I feel like shit and my dysphoria is through the roof

Lee says:

I would start off by exploring your menstrual product options which can make it easier to cope with having your period.

Period underwear is probably the easiest product to use because you already know how to wear underwear so you don't have to worry about putting it on wrong. Period underwear has built-in absorbent layers and is reusable and discreet to wear, but some people might feel self-conscious about washing them at the end of the day if they aren't used to washing their own underwear and don't have a private bathroom, or they might have dysphoria about washing them. You will likely need more than one pair (at least 2 pairs) even if you wash them daily because they need to dry, so there's a bit of an up-front cost but then since they're reusable it can be cheaper than pads and tampons in the long run.

The step below period underwear in terms of usability is probably pads. They tend to be pretty easy to use and also don't require insertion into the body, but if you don't place them right sometimes blood can leak around the edges where the pad isn't. Another placement issue might come up if you wear some styles of men's underwear, like boxers, it can be hard to use pads unless you wear a different type of underwear underneath which can feel bulky. Similarly to period underwear, blood on pads might feel more noticeable than internal options, which might increase dysphoria for some. You will need to buy pads over and over, so even they aren't that expensive to buy, the cost of buying them can add up. If your family buys the pads for you or you can get them at school for free then that isn't a big of a deal, but it does matter for some people.

Some trans people swear by menstrual cups because they're reusable and cost-effective. Once inserted correctly, they can be worn for up to 12 hours depending on flow, and the feeling of the blood can be less noticeable than pads or period underwear since it's not coming out. It can also be useful if you like swimming or have swimming classes, and/or if you're in a situation where you're stealth and have access to a private bathroom to wash the menstrual cup but don't feel like you can hide a whole package of pads in your stuff. But it can be hard to find the right size/model sometimes, so it can require multiple different brands and sizes to get the one that works best for you. Some people find the feeling of wearing one uncomfortable, have a hard time with the insertion, worry it'll affect their IUD, etc.

Tampons and menstrual discs have similar pros and cons as menstrual cups, although tampons are not reusable and some menstrual discs are. In all three cases, the process of insertion can be dysphoria-inducing for some trans individuals, but you also have the benefits of not having to feel the blood. You will also have more security to avoid leaks since you could choose to wear a tampon/menstrual cup/menstrual disc and then also wear a pad or menstrual underwear as backup.

After you've figured out what products work for you, I'd switch gears to the long game which is trying to stop your period in a healthy way. If you're out as trans, talk to your guardians and doctors about trying puberty blockers or using birth control to stop your period.

If you're not out as trans, you can still try convincing your parents to take you to the doctor to discuss the use of birth control in stopping your period without mentioning gender dysphoria:

You could say you have a heavy flow and starting birth control will make it lighter

It can help with anemia because you aren’t losing any iron through your period blood if you don’t get your period

You could say your friend/s have done it and it helped them

To stop period related cramping and pain

You could say you have gross period side-effects (like diarrhea and more farting) for the week of your period

It can make your periods more regular (or make it so you can control when it happens so you’re not caught off guard)

Helps with PMSing so you don’t have to deal with any of that

It’s more convenient and you don’t have to remember to change your pad/tampon

If you’re disabled, it can help save spoons and effort and make your week easier

You may not be able to change your pads regularly if you’re disabled and that’s kinda unsanitary and the pads can break so stopping your period can help with that type of stress

Save money on pads/tampons

Save time having to use pads/tampons and keep visiting the bathroom during class

It can help with migraines if you get headaches or migraines near your period

It can help with PCOS, PMDD, and endometriosis if you have any of those conditions

It might lower your risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer (but increase your risk of breast cancer) so that's something to discuss with a doctor based on your family history and personal risk factor

If you swim, it’s better to not have your period (And it’s inconvenient for athletes in general)

It can help regulate your mood (especially if you’re mentally ill and find mood fluctuations around your period hard to handle)

Why have a period when you can not have one? Some people feel there are no positive things about having a period because they feel it is inconvenient/[insert personal adjectives]

It’s pretty safe and many people do it, and if your doctor prescribes it and monitors you then there’s not a big risk in it

How do I talk about birth control with my dad?

Here’s a NY Times article called “For the Teen Who No Longer Wants a Period”, I’d start the conversation by sending them that link then if they ask more, give them the excuses above!

Finally, there are coping strategies that you can explore to manage the feelings of dysphoria that you may experience when you have your period-- this post has more info on that.

Followers, any advice for anon?

[tang0soda]

I haven't seen a lot of discussion about RSD when it comes to ADHD discussions, so I thought I would do the honors since it's been affecting me for many years and I'd like people to know more about it!

I have had a diagnosis for ADHD but was never told- instead learning I had autism through therapy but still having some behaviors that I could never explain that just Happened.

I learned I had ADHD over the summer, and with that, severe rejection sensitive dysphoria.

before reading, please keep in mind that this is mostly talking from personal experience and some skimmed research! not experiencing RSD doesn't mean you do/don't have ADHD, and it may not appear like how it appeared for me. I don't only have autism + adhd either, so those may also contribute to any differences! ^^

RSD is the immense emotional pain after being criticized, rejected, or even teased (ignore my misspell in the panel). This rejection can be real or perceived, and we react like this because it hurts.

The pain can manifest as aggression, bringing on symptoms of depression (thoughts of s/h, isolation, demotivation, etc) and anxiety/panic attacks.

it can cause physical aliments like the above. For me, it causes my heartrate to skyrocket, heart palpitations, the feeling of being in a crisis, and extreme shaking to occur along with stomach pain.

(In fact, right now I'm going through it because making a post talking about this, despite having & dealing with it, makes me scared of other's opinions on it.)

RSD can also take the form of avoiding situations, people, or conversations where rejection or criticism is very possible.

Like other types of dysphoria, it is out of our control and hard to manage. It can last from days to weeks to months, all depending on both the trigger* and the individual.

I had a RSD episode that was on-and-off for a little over a year or two; getting more tame and bearable as it slowly drifted and stopped haunting my mind with the incident.

Compared to the other times my RSD was set off, this moment was a rather big moment in my life and ended up permanently changing me moving forward - which can be the reason why it lasted so long.

Despite how unbearable it can get, there are some ways to cope with it & lessen the effect it has.

Communicate - If you need time to process something that's told to you, you should say so (as difficult as it is). Tell the person(s) involved about your RSD, how you need time to digest information like this and take some time to relax. Trying to respond to the information while going through the head of the dysphoria will be very rough and might not be what you truly want to say.

Distract - This is really useful for me personally! Do something that grabs your attention or occupies your mind. One of RSD's main symptoms is rumination, thinking of something over and over again. I usually listen to music, draw, or play a game that won't frustrate me - like minecraft! (i'd say rain world but some of you would call me a maniac /lhj)

Perspective - This may require some communication, but it can really help and connect with others. See what the involved people thought / perceived, explain, talk. This doesn't always have the chance to end in rainbows and rekindling but at least you understand. Sometimes simply hearing the person explain their own side is enough to ease my RSD, being able to have someone explain themselves to me so i can understand them better.

I also wanna point out the "don't take it personally" thing that people try to use to deal with it isn't something i agree with since we're going to take it personally at first regardless. Later on, not really, but you're trying to cope with the symptoms... telling someone (or yourself) that they're too sensitive & over-reacting is the worse thing you could do.

With time, you can even begin to build up your 'armor' and be able to sustain yourself in situations you might get hurt in. Of course, some things may be able to sneak past and hurt you more than you expect, but at the end of the day, you're trying your best to go about it the best you can while taking so many blows. you're doing great.

OK i dont have a lot more to add so if anyone else would like to talk about their experiences, please feel free! Character showcased here was my beloved fursona Shiki! i'm just a little neurodivergent + black artist from new york :]

hope you enjoyed it! sorry for the long post </3

[beanghostprincess]

It's debatable which Strawhat has the worst trauma, but Sanji definitely has the worst coping mechanisms.

The "worst trauma" debate is so ridiculous because they are all traumatized in a way and it is not a contest 😭 It's not even like. Debatable. You don't go to a group of people and start wondering who had it worse because that's not the point. This is not directed to you, anon, btw <3 I just find it funny how people will constantly talk about who has it worse because it also depends on how you relate/connect to their stories.

HOWEVER!!!!!!! When it comes to coping mechanisms, Sanji is the worst and you're absolutely right.

TW // Eating disorders, Self-harm, unhealthy coping mechanisms in general

Imo, he's a workaholic and won't stop cooking to avoid thinking about what troubles him. He also refuses to go to sleep unless his body gives up on its own because he either has nightmares or/and insomnia. There are a lot of reasons why I think he struggles with eating properly but one of them I'd say is feeling in control of his life in general/feeling like he doesn't deserve to enjoy food. Also, that tick he has of pulling his hair constantly when he is stressed/having a breakdown. Etc, etc, etc.

The worst is that he refuses to get help because he believes it will just either go away on its own or that it isn't such a big deal for them to worry. But of course the crew worries. I like to believe Robin and Brook help him the most but perhaps that's just me and my love for this trio and these two extremely traumatized gentle adults taking care of him.

[voxofthevoid]

Poll time, yet again ❎

This isn't what I'd call a problem per se, but I'm writing at a pace my posting cannot keep up with, even with me currently posting 5 fics a month—4 for JJK from a roster of 5 and 1 for MCU/Bleach. This'd be fine, but posting for MCU and Bleach long after leaving those fandoms has made it clear that I will significantly slow down on posting for those regardless of the size of my backlog. While I continue to love sharing those stories, the editing process becomes more of a chore than usual, and I just...sit on those. I'd like to avoid that as much as possible with JJK.

I'm still very firmly in the JJK sauce and haven't slowed down any, but I'd rather do this while I'm at the zenith of my inspiration, so these fics (which are the longest among my unposted JJK fics) can see the light of Ao3 while they and I are both hot, so to speak.

I'm upping my ongoing JJK roster from five to six, though whether the updates will increase to five a month or stay four a month remains to be seen. I can handle both based on monthly energy levels and have drawn up schedules for each, but I might run another poll for that to see what y'all can take. But that's for later.

For now, pick a fic ✨

Descriptions, titles, and choice WIP Wednesday links for the fics under the cut. I'll reblog the poll once a day or so till it's over.

Amnesiac Yuuji

the ghost in me was true (but you were haunted too): No-Shibuya AU where Gojou sends Yuuji out of the country after he eats all the fingers. Yuuji goes AWOL a year in and reappears 12 years later without any memories. Gojou doesn’t deal with that too well. Goyuu.

Shibuya Swap

(this is also part of the story) how the story changes: Just as the PR ensnares Gojou, canon!Yuuji switches places with his older self from an alternate dimension where he’s Gojou’s teacher. Goyuu.

Mundane Unclekuna

bloodstains on the collar means just don't ask: Mundane AU Yuuji’s sexual awakening is his big, mean uncle and then his high school teacher makes him realize he just has a specific type in men. Goyuu and Sukuita.

Surprise Rut Sex

taking the flesh is the only virtue: Yuuji goes into premature rut after the vs Mahito arc, and Nanami ends up “helping” before Gojou shows up to escalate matters. Goyuu and Nanaita.

[a-little-revolution]

What are the main things you would want a prospective average sized sexual partner to know or be aware of? Do you prefer having sex with other little people?

Hello! I cannot speak to a preference as I personally have not had sex with another little person before. All of my sex has been inter-abled (with a non disabled person and myself) or with someone with a different disability. When it comes to an average sized partner, here's what I'd love them to know:

cw: sex and sexuality

Firstly, any of my perspective partners need to feel comfortable talking about disability, sex, and logistics in the bedroom. It's a red flag when people don't even feel comfortable bringing up the elephant in the room or asking me what I need. Like I've said before, my disability is very normalized to me. It's only a big deal if you make it one.

Know that my reach and flexibility is limited - which affects the positions I choose. For instance, because of my limited reach, I struggle to simultaneously kiss and finger someone when lying down - so I usually to hand stuff from a sitting position with them on their back.

Know that dwarfism comes with joint pain so I can get sore easily - pillows for my back and hips are a must! This can also make for a better angle when doing things from behind, where leg length difference can pose an issue.

Utilizing furniture is a great way around height differences. Putting me on a couch, a bed, a counter top, etc. while my partner stands can make it easier for both of us. If I'm topping with a strap, a stool next to the bed works great.

Understand that picking me up isn't always the solution. This is one that's posed a lot by amab (assigned male at birth) folk especially, without accounting for my joints or weight. Being picked up can also be triggering for a lot of little people as it's often a tool for harassment by strangers.

Know that kinks surrounding size differences are played by ear - I avoid sexual partners that outwardly express a dwarfism kink to me, that being said I have consented to certain role plays and dynamics that I feel safe within when I trust the person. Different little people will have different opinions and boundaries on kinks, and we're not all the same. I once had a sexual partner that had been with multiple LP before me, and I disagreed with almost everything their previous partners said yes to.

Overall, be respectful, accommodating, and kind. Disabled people know their bodies best and have rich, vibrant sex lives - little people are no different. Know that they may be more cautious with who they allow access to their body and be respectful of that.

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! So, I'm afraid I may have fallen into A Trope, and I'm wondering if I need to change anything about this character.

I have three characters who are (nearly) identical homunculi (alchemically created humans). One of them is blind, because a lab accident resulted in him having to be "born" before he was ready, resulting in severely underdeveloped eyes, among a few other issues.

The thing I'm worried about is that I've given these homunculi enhanced senses as a result of them all having some dragon DNA. I wouldn't say it's to an extent that it negates the blind one's blindness, it's certainly not at Daredevil levels, but it does give him some options that your average blind person wouldn't have; in particular, the ability to identify people by smell (like how individuals would smell different from each other to a cat or dog, for example) and generally having better hearing than your average human, though again, it's not at a level I'd call "super-hearing," just slightly enhanced.

He does use a cane, and occasionally his brothers act as sighted guides, so he doesn't completely rely on his enhanced senses to navigate, nor would that be feasible if he tried.

I guess the jist of what I'm asking is, is a blind character with enhanced senses (as a species trait) okay if those senses aren't enhanced enough to actually "make up for" his blindness, or should I do away with that aspect of the species?

Hello!

The main problems with this trope are that it's often only the blind character with these enhanced senses and their enhanced senses end up negating their blindness and being used as a way to avoid actually portraying the character's blindness.

For example, a blind character that has highly enhanced senses and doesn't need to use a cane or a sighted guide or need any sort of accommodations. This trope also usually ends up implying (If not outright stating) that blind people have enhanced senses, which is a pretty common myth.

With how you've described your character, it sounds like the majority of this is avoided. I'd be hesitant to even group your concept in with this trope. It isn't just the blind character that has the enhanced senses and it sounds like you've done good with researching his blindness and showing how he deals with it.

Something worth noting is that even though the whole "blind people have enhanced senses" thing is a myth, a lot of blind people are more in tune with our other senses simply because we rely on them/use them more. With my level of vision loss, I can't usually see people approaching me unless they're coming from directly in front of me but I am able to identify friends and family (And even some of my profs) by the sound of their footsteps. Some of my friends also have pretty unique smells so I can even pick out a few of them by smell on occasion. This is all to say that it's not entirely unrealistic for your character to be able to identify somebody based on their smell, even without their enhanced senses.

I don't see anything wrong with this character but if you are still worried about the trope, there are a few things you can consider to avoid falling into it entirely:

Consider adding another blind character who isn't part of this species. Even just a blind side character that appears every so often or in passing can help show that the enhanced senses are a species-specific trait, not something to do with his blindness. I'm always a big fan of including multiple blind characters (And disabled characters in general) anyways.

Show the limits of his senses and explore the assistive technology he may use. Though his level of blindness isn't specified, his enhanced senses likely wouldn't help him with things such as technology, navigating the physical world around him, group conversations/social cues (Without relying on body language or facial expressions), etc. You mentioned that he uses a cane and his brothers as sighted guides but what other resources does he use?

Another thing to consider is what kinds of tricks and adjustments he's made in his own life, even without actual assistive technology. There are a lot of day-to-day things that are made difficult by blindness and unfortunately, a lot of solutions are either extremely expensive or don't exist yet so a lot of us have had to get creative. Something I do, for example, is put those raised stickers from the dollar store on the day side of my day/night pill organizer to differentiate between the two.

From what you've described so far, this seems like a really cool idea and I don't see any reason to remove their enhanced senses. I think it adds a lot to the characters and I'd love to see how they've been able to use their senses in regards to their blindness.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[pistatsia]

All or Nothing: Noel Noa (ft. Jinpachi Ego)

(note that this analysis contains heavy spoilers for Noa's motives in my Big little dramas fic)

What I really like about Noa is that his character, with his questionable coaching decisions and personality... Actually very evidently grows from his backstory.

We only know a few things for sure about Noa's background before Blue Lock: he grew up in the slums of Paris, where he invested all of himself to get out of that hole, he's ex-boyfriend rival of Jinpachi Ego, with whom they diverge in their ideologies and approaches to the striker's game, and he's the idol of little (and adult) Isagi Yoichi due to the fact that he plays rough and focuses on his success rather than his teammates.

On top of that, we also know that Noa was probably forced into Blue Lock. Most likely, the club management put him in front of the fact that you was specifically requested by your ex rival, so go and shine with your face on a TV show. Oh, and bring along our resident bouquet of personality disorders, code-named kainess. Noa certainly doesn't want to show off for the camera like Lavinho or Chris, doesn't want to raise the next generation of players to avoid his mistakes like Snuffy, and certainly isn't looking for friends/good play/rivals like Loki (who only came to the top 5 to evaluate the level of Blue Lock players according to his own words). Even if he'd wanted to see the sprouts of Ego's theory I doubt that he will apply for the participating in Blue Lock voluntary.

Because Noa doesn't really care. This whole mess is just out of his field of interest. Outside of the games we only see him sitting in his room staring endlessly at screens and drinking coffee.

But it's from this that we see that Noa, despite his very... die-or-die method of building a game on the field, is a responsible player and coach. He may not want to mess around with kids in front of the world, but if he took the job, he'll do it. But he will do it exactly the way he demands of himself - no more, no less. Noa is neither cruel nor kind - he doesn't go beyond what his contract asks of him and his principles.

Slightly off-topic, I'd say that's the exact difference between Noa and Ego. No one would accuse Noa of conscious cruelty: he acts within his system, which he has explained to the children in advance, and if they fail it is only their fault for failing to adjust to it. He is simply doing his job - nothing more, nothing less.

Ego, in his turn? He chooses to be cruel even in the system he have built himself. Not because it somehow motivates the children, but because he can. And in doing so, Ego doesn't hate them - he probably doesn't care about any of them. He hates in them a part of the player he once was - the player who lost either to Noel Noa or the entire football world. If not to the both at once.

But even so, it seems odd for the manga to highlight their rivalry. It's not that only very few people have different ways of dealing with children. A lot of people are losing ugly to each other.

But this work with kids is the main root of their rivalry. Because the basics of their motto, their starting point of football, the way they guide children to the game are diametrically opposed.

Because the key point of Ego theory is that the striker is created by a moment of chaos. A moment that cannot be directed - that can only be pushed towards.

Except that for Noa a player hoping for a miracle and not knowing something is nothing. He will never allow that in his team - his whole game, his team and his life is one big formula with coefficients chosen once, like a neural network.

Both of them live as a part of the all-or-nothing game. Except that while Ego plays this game with emotion and involvement, Noa approaches it as logically as possible.

And only Isagi Yoichi can resolve this decades-long conflict.

Now let's go back to Noa's game, to understand why logic is that important to Noa and the player's emotions are insignificant and even get in the way.

Remember exactly how he plays on the pitch. He never comes out to play first like other master strikers. He chooses the midfield position to support the player of his choice - he doesn't steal their shine in the center of attack. He only scores a goal once too, in the first match - the rest of the time he blocks other master strikers in an effort to ensure the kids can play fair.

And that's probably why he openly mocks both Lavinho and Chris with his dry jokes about narcissists and "kids without the proper adult". But he's especially harsh on Snuffy, angrily mocking him for being bitten by "his own dog", bringing back the "don't make my job harder than it needs to be" line. But why does Snuffy deserve this treatment (not taking into account the way Snuffy himself ridicules Noa)?

Because Noa is disgusted with his approach to teaching.

In fact, it's their approaches in the Blue Lock cut that are most opposed, and yet turned on to the max. While Snuffy has gone so far as to give each player an individual program and plan in his strategies, Noa has let things slide, making his stratum a mini version of the Hunger Games. Noa is angry that Snuffy babysits his kids; he's angry at how involved he is in their lives, how Snuffy swirls around them, and how Snuffy is always there to help and support them.

Because Noa is a "give a hungry man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime" kind of guy. Except that he won't even teach them voluntarily. Players need to get the right advice from him themselves while framing the question correctly. 

Noa's policy is non-interference.

Because he knows from experience that it's the only way kids grow up strong. From his own experience.

And to fully dive in, let's remember another moment from the manga that characterizes Noa the most. His advice to Isagi.

"Dedicate every hour, moment, second of your life to a goal. Don't think irrationally. Get your thoughts in order. I don't pick irrational people for the team. Dedicate your whole self to the goal."

Pretty cool, huh? Blossoms with potential burnout, a life on automatic, and a complete loss of feeling.

You know what I'm getting at? That's exactly the lifestyle Noa lives with. And he doesn't see anything wrong with advising Isagi to do it. He doesn't get annoyed by people's taunts about him being a machine and incapable of feeling. That's probably what he wanted.

Because Noa himself grew up completely dedicated to a goal, switching off all his feelings and without mentorship, and it made him who he is now. And it's rational for him to follow the same path with his kids.

Because feelings are illogical. They're weird, they're scary, they're very hard to predict. They're exhausting, they make you turn back to the past and wait for the future with hopes that may not be fulfilled later. They take your strength, they hurt and they wound very sharply. They make you weak, they make you vulnerable - they make you a helpless child.

Living without them is so much easier.

(If you remember my analysis on Isagi, you can see how similar he and Noa are.)

In psychology this mode is called "detached protector". Its essence is that the child or adult turns off all their feelings to avoid punishment and focus on survival. 

They switch off all emotions. They cut off all emotional ties with loved ones, family and friends, seeing them more as objects. They can only work endlessly.

They function like a robot.

This mode is triggered when a person cuts off all their emotional needs, like an automaton focusing on one single goal.

In Noa's case? His survival. And that's exactly what Ego is talking about - that young Noa, obviously emotionally deprived, put all of himself into football because he had nothing else but it. 

And judging by Noa today, having cut off those needs as a child, he doesn't see the point in experiencing them again. Noa doesn't smile, he doesn't get upset or frustrated. He doesn't get angry or regretful. Of course, mentally stable people can express their emotions weakly too - and even on a level like Noa.

But we're in a football manga. Football is all about emotion.

And the fact that Noa doesn't visually show the joy or at least the satisfaction of a goal or a victory - of the life that little Noa once strived so hard to live, investing all of himself - is just awful.

Of course, Noa has feelings, just like any other person. After all, he is a living being. Except they're either quite faint (because strong emotions = danger and weakness), or he crushes them as soon as he feels them coming on.

Noa's whole life is an endless race to stay where he is.

Because Noa has learned to survive. Of course, he did.

But Noa didn't learn how to live.

[rileys-battlecats]

If you haven’t already answered this yet, can I ask why MicaClan chose the territory they currently live in? It seems like an interesting decision to choose such a different area to try to survive in. Although the more lush area probably means less droughts and higher elevation could possibly mean less flood risks, avoiding the two major issues that caused them to move in the first place. They still have to relearn everything though in such a different area. Or was there less thought behind it and it was more just get to higher ground to avoid the water and then they got tired of traveling and decided to stop once they were sufficiently high up?

Also can I ask what kind of border threats they faced when establishing their new territory? Were there other groups of cats? Was it mostly predators and dangerous animals? Did dogs or twolegs pose a challenge to their borders?

Sorry I kinda have a lot of questions haha I just really like your story and characters and settings and everything and wanna know all I can about them and get a deeper knowledge of everything

I AM SO HAPPY TO RECEIVE THIS QUESTION

You're right that there were material aspects as to why they chose to settle where they did; the mountain seemed like a good place to avoid any more catastrophic floods with the high elevation, the spring-fed stream that runs through the territory also seemed like a guarantee against any future droughts, and the area had plenty of prey to feed the clan. But the real deciding factor was the soil!

The idea was basically that they found a place where the very ground seemed to be blessed by Starclan. I've written about this on the blog before, but it was wayyy way back and I haven't mentioned it again since then HAHA, but I based Micaclan's territory on a place I used to hike every now and again. The area used to be the location of a mica mine, and the ground there still sparkles with all the tiny shards of minerals in the ground (which is actually why they're called Micaclan; I gave them the name before I'd fully decided on the clan not being from the area originally lol). So they basically were like "if this isn't a sign from Starclan then I don't know what is" and set up camp! It ended up being the right choice in the end, because they found the Moonmirror in the abandoned mine on their territory, which gave them much needed access to Starclan (even if they can't use it outside of emergencies).

For border threats, I imagine them dealing with all sorts of things, especially in the beginning when they were just establishing their borders. I think of micaclan's territory being far enough from human civilization that they don't have to worry about construction or cars or anything, but close enough that they have a human hiking trail acting as one of their borders, or at least having a hiking trail close enough that they have to deal with the occasional stray dog or human. In addition to this, predators like black bears or coyotes would make trouble for the clan, and maybe a mountain lion drifted through the territory at one point (which would have been a harrowing time indeed).

As for rogues or other groups of cats, I think they might've brought that trouble with them! It's hard to conceal a big group of cats traveling in search of a new territory, and I think they drew some unwanted attention on their way up to the mountain. Maybe other groups noted them, and decided to let the strangers do the hard work of staking out a good territory before swooping in to take their place? I don't think there were any other cats living where Micaclan ends up, so they wouldn't be contesting land with any other resident cats. Those that threatened their new borders were usually looking to try to take their place. Basically they were like "so the weirdos you pegged as 'death within the month' 5 moons ago are actually now thriving and looking well-fed and healthy living on the mountain? I guess it can't be THAT dangerous, why don't we live up there instead? they can find somewhere else again, they're obviously good at finding nice territories."

the general gossip on micaclan as a group through the years basically goes like this: I heard there was a big group (a clan?) passing through looking to set up a new territory, hope they don't settle here -> apparently that big clan that passed through a few moons back is living further up the mountain? wonder how long it'll be before they're eaten by bears -> there's a big group of cats living further up the mountain, maybe the mountain makes for a good territory after all... -> there's a weird cat cult up the mountain and if you step on their turf they will Kick Your Ass

[weebsinstash]

I'd be judging the hell out of Mom!Reader for naming her twins GABRIEL and GABRIELLA!!!! (Not judging her that much for instigating Miguel to get me or something, I mean. Stockholm syndrome is a bitch. and also. I get it, the power of big d and all that stuff) GIRL. That's the SAME NAME!!!!!

Smh there's so many beautiful names in spanish but MomReader and Miguel 2 are lacking in the creativity department.

Miguel over here watching Mom!You being so radiant and joyful while showing off her chunky babies and he's sending sly glances to you, lowkey being a snob as he thinks "OUR babies would have much better names" and before he knows it he's building up this little fantasy in his head by accident. He keeps hearing these little stories or details from the other you and the other him and in his head he keeps thinking of what he would've done, how he thinks it would've gone for you and him, and you two are not even in a relationship. In fact depending on how drawn out this gets, you haven't even been in the Spider Society for several weeks and are at home with no intention of ever coming back, heartbroken, alone

I even thought of "what if an afab Reader got so desperate to escape canon and have freedom again that she gets pregnant by a stranger and literally carries a full pregnancy so she can abandon the baby, because the kid will eventually become a Spider and maybe they'll take over the canon and then you'll be able to do whatever you want" because you're just. You're so upset that canon is controlling your life and basically like ENSLAVING you that you're desperate

Lmao Peter B sneaks back to see you even though he isn't supposed to and finds you, he's ecstatic, "oh my god you're SUPER pregnant!" and he knows he isn't supposed to see you but he zips it and goes back home and, months later he visits you again with gifts, "so where's the baby?" "I dunno, where IS the baby? :)"

Would the baby technically be an anomaly since you weren't supposed to have it, not like this? What if they had to get rid of it to re-stabilize the timeline or whatever? Now you're being EXTRA shunned because, "wow you went through all that just for yourself huh 🙄 you'd rather abandon a baby than get married..." like people just beyond appalled with you, meanwhile you feel extra victimized because, wow that was all for nothing, you're trying to rethink strategies since "the contigency" didn't work out.

Or less dark but imagine dumping that kid and then some time later you're invited back to the Spider Society and it's like "oh hey Miguel what's the deal with this random baby you're taking care of" and you don't even recognize it, don't even know, you didn't even look at it hard enough to ever really know what it looked like, and, well, WE know whose baby it is lmao. You thinking you escaped from it and it's off living its own life and is going to someday free you and they, maybe not even realizing your intentions and just thinking you were scared, are raising it to give it back to you. I'd go absolutely wild lmao. Their shock when you break it to them "I literally nicknamed it Connie as in contingency, I never even knew what sex it was, I never even fed it, oh my god get it out of here, you're ruining everything"

Miguel MAKING YOU raise it even if its like tbh a fucked up little accident, or, if it's the whole "anomaly baby's gotta go" situation, after the, uh, disposal, he realizes he's pushed you way too far and you're too stressed and scared to think and behave rationally anymore and THIS is where he basically assigns himself as your caretaker and eventually takes you for himself which is kiiiiiiiiinda for the best because you're losing it a little. Like idk I imagine with LYLA maybe he has her programmed to tell him his own canon or he can look at it himself but like, what if he avoided spoilers because he wanted his behavior with you to be authentic or whatever. Like Miguel 2 might let him know "yeah dude turns out we hook up with them in a lot of different universes, it's almost like a separate canon like Peter Parker having Mary Jane" and Miguel takes some sneak peeks at other realities and then he shuts himself off from it so he can move forward of his own accord, but he now knows a sort of guideline and maybe some things to avoid doing (he can see the reality where the YouTwo disaster is going down and he's like "I would NEVER make MY You feel replaced *acts like having Mom!You and Miguel2 around doesn't count, the denial is stored in his ass, that's why it's so big*")

He's got a little notebook or data log where he takes down notes and details on things you like, things he notices about you, things you do often, habits, favorite foods, favorite color, how often are you doing your laundry (he knows you keep re-wearing that bra, girl), are you making your bed, how well are you functioning. Jesus, he literally has technology that can recreate extremely hyperdetailed recreation simulations; if he isn't outright putting camera bots in your room, he can "recreate" however you've been spending your day. He can learn all your routines and rituals and habits, decide what things may be problems, what things you might need more of in your life, he's, studying you really, with a romantic and almost scientific obsession

Not to be all 50 shades of gray in here but would Miguel eventually come onto you, all pent up and control finally bursting, "if we were made for each other, you must like taking it as hard as I like to give it" and whether you want it or not he takes you, and your bodies feel like they fit together perfectly, he stretches you out and fills you up JUST right, you can't help but have your eyes roll into the back of your head with how good it is, and of course he used any good reactions out of you as an excuse/"sign" he's doing the right thing and to keep going, that you're consenting, that he's finally winning you over

Who know; the two of you might start having those babies faster than you both initially thought 😳

[falciesystemessays]

Into the Breach is important.

If you somehow have not heard of it, Into the Breach is a microtactics roguelite about giant mechs fighting giant monsters by the developers of FTL. It is superficially similar to games like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics, but it turns so many genre conventions on their head. There is basically no output randomness. No misses, no criticals, and the enemies telegraph exactly what they're going to do next turn. Each turn becomes its own self-contained puzzle about pushing and manipulating enemies to prevent damage to the buildings and yourselves. It shows so beautifully that the best part of a tactics game isn't having the highest damage numbers, but manipulating the battlefield.

If you care about tactics games At All, Into the Breach is a must-play, even just to see how you feel about it. As a game designer, there is so much to learn from this game, whether it's about randomness, UI clarity, or just general tactics/roguelike design. I'd also recommend this GDC talk by one of its designers about the process of designing the game. It is very insightful, especially as a companion piece to the game itself.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's talk about the Advanced Edition update.

This took me by surprise. They just kind of shadowdropped a free expansion four years later. Now, I suspected this might happen, they did an advanced edition for FTL too. But I didn't expect it to be so... interesting.

I say "interesting" as both a positive and a negative. Many of its additions are, to put it in scientific terms, fucking awesome. But not all of its choices are ones I agree with. It's especially interesting as many of the design choices are ones that Subset avoided when developing the base game. For better and worse, ITB Advanced Edition is fascinating trying to understand. I've had this essay on my mind for two years, and now that I have this blog, I feel like I have space to make it. So, let's get into it.

Probably the most immediately compelling part of this update is the addition of five new squads, many of which have become some of my favorites to play. They have easily the most creative and unique powers in the game, and many of them revolve around controlling the battlefield, with effects like fire, smoke, and even breaking cracked tiles to create abyss. To be perfectly TBH, my favorite part of a tactics game is getting to play with a new toy, and Advanced Edition has new toys in spades!

This brings us to the new weapons, though, which is a different matter. I like a lot of the weapons that are attached to the new squads, but there are plenty more that you can get randomly from shops and the like that I am much more negative on. Many of them are weirdly situational, like one that depends on the level you're playing on having water. And many are incredibly unwieldy and difficult to understand, like The Big One, which pushes you back but sends a projectile forward which deals damage in a cone shape but decreases in damage as the cone expands. It's difficult to understand, and more to the point, difficult to explain. That's probably why it was scrapped from the original game. But Advanced Edition puts it back in, betraying the game's value of clarity. It's a strange decision, and one I still bristle at.

And on the topic of scrapped things that were brought back in Advanced Edition, Unfair Mode is a thing! I feel like I should give some context for this. So, in that GDC talk I linked, Matthew Davis talks about all the concessions Subset had to make to get the game feeling good. Like, they betrayed their game's determinism by adding Grid Defense, a random small chance for a building to survive impact. They hated doing this, but it was necessary to make sure players saw the game through to the end. Well, Unfair Mode removes Grid Defense, or at least starts it out at 0. Similarly, they had to curtail spawn rates for enemies, because if a turn was even just a bit too difficult, the game stopped being hard and became unsolvable. Into the Breach is a kind of puzzle game, and a puzzle you can't solve isn't exactly a fun time for most of us. Well, Unfair Mode raises the spawn rate, but compensates by letting you recover from building damage faster. The enemies spawn in so fast that they actually hit the limit for enemy count fairly often. This comes with a very funny consequence that once they hit that limit, the game won't spawn in any more next turn, so if you can kill a bunch of them this turn the next turn becomes super easy. It's a very fun back-and-forth. Unfair Mode, I feel, captures the essence of Advanced Edition pretty well. "We tried to avoid doing this before, but we're giving you the option to do it now."

The game isn't just theirs anymore. It's ours.

There's plenty more I could talk about. I mean, I love the new pilots and skills, I'm mixed on the new missions, and I'm trying to like the new enemies. But they all amount to the same thing really. The game is weirder now, for better and worse. As someone who really appreciated the completeness of Into the Breach at launch, it can feel very strange thinking about what the game is now. Because the game can be whatever you want it to be. You can turn off advanced enemies, missions, weapons, individually. You don't have to play on Unfair, or use any of the new squads. This is unlike even FTL's advanced edition, where the choice is mostly just advanced or not.

It feels like Advanced Edition comes from the designers of Into the Breach letting go of their vision, deciding they've already made the game they want to make, and letting the player decide what the game becomes instead. As a designer, I don't know whether to admire or admonish this. But I do know that I still love Into the Breach. It's clear that this game is going to be on game developers' minds for years to come, and plenty of devs are taking direct inspiration from it. Like the upcoming deckbuilder ARC SEED, or Mobile Suit Baba, which is exactly what you think it is. I myself hold ITB as a major inspiration for my own tactics work, (and incidentally if you want to see my work then you can check it out here) but while the base game gets me thinking about the nuts and bolts of design, AE has me thinking more philosophically about the role of the game designer. Is there more value in the finished work, or the open work? Is it more important to stick to your vision, or to give players the tools to make their own vision? It's the kind of question that only games have to ask, and I think that's beautiful. As I spend another eon thinking about it, I'm gonna play some more Into the Breach.

[soaringpigeonshovel]

Obito-lives-instead-of-Kakashi AUs are great and all but I'd like to remind everyone that this team was a TRIO of kids. Therefore, considering Obito saved his buddy (Kakashi) and then asked him to protect his poor little meow meow (Rin):

Rin would save her buddy (Obito) and then ask him to protect her poor little meow meow (Kakashi).

While Kakashi would save his buddy (Rin) and then ask her to protect his poor little idiot meow meow (Obito).

Rin meeting Madara would be fascinating. Madara would want to manipulate her into getting Obito to help him, or at least be bait, right? But no way would Rin even consider his shit until she sees Kakashi rip out his own heart out in front of Obito. She'd realize that Obito is the target. Her best, last, only friend. Loyalty to the village took Kakashi away from her—she is not losing Obito. And definitely not in a situation where it would be her fault again. She'd have one bargaining chip: she's the Tony Stark of medicine (a magic eye transplant! in a cave! with a box of scraps!) and Madara hasn't seen a medical professional since the founding of Konoha. She can't heal him or anything (absolutely not, that would take away from her badass villainous screentime) but she can keep him in a near-immortal vegetative state, enough for him to keep the Rinnegan, maybe pop his head up/get Zetsu'd during emergencies, and not even need resurrecting in the future. In return for helping Madara brainwash the world, of course. Intrigued—and also Obito just unlocked his Mangekyou and obliterated everything in the vicinity and then vanished, so he's out of reach for now—Madara takes the deal.

Kakashi meeting Madara would be a lot different, however, because we're only changing the rocks-fall-somebody-dies scene. Kakashi's already had his Turning Point Moment with Obito. Even when he sees Obito kill himself, he's jammed in friends-first mode and there isn't a crowbar in the world big enough to wedge him out of it. Obito killing himself to avoid capture would just cement it. So instead we say that Hatake blood, a little like Uzumaki blood, is special—it allows them to survive things like Sharingan transplants. So, through kinjutsus and Zetsus and whatever else he could cobble together, Madara flat-out forces Kakashi to be the enacter of his plan. After all Kakashi has always been a weapon, first and foremost, his own soul set aside. It's really just more of the same.

These work for the final battle, especially. In canon, Kakashi is all about legacy and the parts of himself which is made of other people. Obito, original owner of his eye and most of his philosophy, is therefore the perfect foil. (And Naruto, who is strengthened by that same legacy but not strangled by it, is the hero.)

Rin would be a villain in the same vein as Sasori. She's been puppeting Madara's almost-corpse around, a nightmarish necromancer and her pet zombie. But conversely, Madara has also been puppeting her through their deal. She works as a foil because Obito wants to be (or is?) Hokage, puppetmaster of Konoha, and the Uchiha (mostly alive, probably) want to puppet Obito on the throne. It's all about control. (And Naruto, who wants to be Hokage too but is free and upright and has thrown off his shackles, is the hero.)

Kakashi as a foil would build on the body-horror from Danzo's fight. He'd have Madara's Rinnegan, Obito's Mangekyou, other Sharingan in Hashirama's body parts, bits of Zetsu grafted on, cursed seals on his heart and neck and spine, tailed beast parts if available, and whatever else anyone could find. It's the opposite of Rin, medicine used to harm instead of heal. It would be about the failure, and the damage caused by a self-centred saviour. (And Naruto, who was failed but saved others, the selfless helping hand, is the hero.)

[y-rhywbeth2]

Gale: 'Something of the sheen of Elysium missing, isn't there?'

First time noticing this, but they put a morally ambiguous god of ambition and his domain on Elysium?

This Elysium:

'It is the source of the River Ocean. It is a place of ultimate goodness. It is a land so pleasant you may never want to leave. Elysium is the most strongly good-aligned plane of the Great Wheel, a place of good untrammelled by issues of law or chaos. On this plane doing well by others is more highly valued than any other ideal. [...] It is usually a peaceful place, and tranquillity seems to seep into the bones and souls of those that cross it.' - Manual of the Planes

Elysium has a brainwashing effect on those within its boundaries that imbues them with a sense of contentment and tranquillity, that will eventually leave them totally peaceful and without drive in a sort of mindless eternal bliss.

And absolutely none of that strikes me as compatible with blanket ambition.

'Elysium is also the home of deities devoted to the cause of good.'

Player: 'What of those with evil ambitions? Do you encourage them too?' Gale, 'avoiding the question': 'I am the god of ambition, not of the consequences of ambition. Nor am I the arbiter of good or evil, for that matter.'

Gale: 'I assure you, this is merely the prelude to a far grander vision. Elysium's in for something of a shake-up.'

I don't think the planes themselves are going to agree with that, somehow.

I mean he can set up shop there, but I wouldn't get comfortable on Elysium if I were him, because many if not most of his petitioners are not going to mesh with the plane (which actively turns on beings that don't conform to the zoned out bliss vibe) and he's unlikely to mesh with many of the other gods that live here - one of whom is Mystra herself. Like Eldath and Chauntea are both laid back humble types.

I'd put Gale down as True Neutral, anyway, so the most strongly aligned Good plane seems off to begin with.

Of course now I'm wondering which plane would work for him it's Banehold

The Nine Hells are the go-to for the ambitious, but of course we're dealing with ambition of every flavour, not just the desperation or pride that lands you in eternal damnation.

...petitioners characterised by ambition are usually Gehenna's like in Banehold.

Hmm... The Lower Planes do kind of work best (not every power down there is Evil, just most). On the other hand Ysgard (CG/CN) maybe? It's a bit battle-orientated, but struggle and aiming for glory is a big part of the plane. And Limbo (CN) is all about imposing your will upon the raw chaos; the might work.